Where Legends Cross
by Rainhealsme
Summary: A child will be born, as the story goes, with eyes and hair the color of auburn. Unmentionable power he will bring to the land he travels, and by using his power to defeat evil, he will reign as King. This is the prophecy of the Supreme King.
1. Chapter 1

**Sitting aside most of my other stories and of course most of time, I finally finished rewriting Toriyama Academy. Well, sort of…since I wasn't happy with my previous work, I decided that it was time for little makeover, and this is what I came up with. Most of the inspiration came from rereading my PokéQuest story, so if you see any similarities between the two stories now you know why.**

**Enjoy this (sort of) remake of Toriyama Academy, everyone!**

**Disclaimer:** Read my lips. Oh wait, you can't. Read my text. I don't own Pokémon or Yugioh GX, but I do own my OCs and the story's plot. Other OC's are © of their respective authors.

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_~ Chapter One: In which there are birthday celebrations and invitations. ~_

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Night settled over the quiescent region of Unova as the day's sun fell behind the serrated mountains in the horizon. Nimbasa City's amusement park had finally closed, the museum curator and staff of Nacrene was doing final check-ups before locking up for the evening, and even the lively streets of Castelia were dying down to late night stragglers.

In the far north, however, the inhabitants of a magnificent castle were preparing themselves for a very important occasion. For many months they toiled, to ensure that everything would be perfect for the rare opportunity this meaningful night would present.

No one was more impatient or thrilled than one man, who was currently strolling down the recently built marble foyer of his castle. Given, the construction on the castle was still ongoing with many of the rooms of the upper wing still unfinished, Salvatore Roze's purposeful stride was not as glorious as he would have liked, with scaffolding and sawdust scattered everywhere, but he knew in due time the magnificent castle would be done and he could strut down the halls with regal dignity. The People of Faith's clan was at its starting peak as nothing more than a seedling organization, but he knew someday it will sprout into a grand and looming power with him as its lord. His face twisted into a smug grin at this thought. He flicked his tongue across his sharp canines and grinned to himself, continuing his stride, white hair billowing out along with his flowing golden and sapphire robes behind him.

He finally reached his destination and walked through the massive golden arches leading into the only open-top room within the entire castle. Here, he joins six other people convened in a circle, all garbed in stately robes. The group of six surrounded a sleeping pink and tapir-like creature that was hovering slowly in place, bobbing up and down. A probing pink, coherent mist emitted from the creature's head. Twitches of her eyes gave the impression that her rest was anything but serene. At Salvatore's entrance, all six of the elders bowed their heads in unison. Salvatore walked over to the group and was greeted by a white-bearded sage whose sunken eyes seemed to light up ever so slightly. "Good evening, Lord Salvatore. Thank you for joining us."

Salvatore nodded back in acknowledgement. "Thank you Sinclair, but such formalities are not needed amongst us Sages, hm?" He smiled at the elderly man, who bowed his head and kept his timid gaze trained on his tawny robes. The other sages were silent, knowing Salvatore meant anything but the statement he made. It was just his way of reminding them of his power.

Clearing his throat, Salvatore continued to speak, "Please, tell me what you have for me." His cold cerulean eyes examined the creature, opportunity glittering wickedly in his eyes.

One of the men, stoic in expression, cleared his throat. Although he was the oldest, with white hair and a slightly gossamer moustache, his voice came strong and clear, with absolute confidence in the words he spoke. "The stars have aligned, and it seems Munna is in the right state to give us the information on the future we seek, my Lord." He gestured to the floating pink creature, the sleeve of his wine colored garment flicking out.

Salvatore grinned once more, teeth glinting in the moonlight. His eyes greedily moved to the creature that was hovering in the center of the group. A woman wearing emerald robes, with her white hair styled into a neat bun explained in a commanding voice, "It is as Joel said. We may not have another chance like this for many more years after tonight. It is not every day we can decode such a composite dream, even with the abilities of this Munna."

"Yes, Natalia, I am very well aware of that fact." Salvatore drawled dismissively, and the old sage fell silent.

Another man, who sported the most amount of hair of all the males, piped up energetically, eager to please his lord Salvatore. "We must begin the ritual soon, your majesty. We are prepared to start anytime," His snaky smile was evident through his thick gray beard as he directed his attention to the man at his right.

The man in question pulled a miniscule bottle of swirling pink gas out of his gray robes. It emitted a soft pink glow that reflected off his bald head, and he murmured in a smooth voice, "I have the Dream Mist right here, Meredith." He scoffed out, insulted by Meredith's statement. Abel gingerly handed the Dream Mist off to the last man, the youngest of them all, a gray-haired man dressed in plum attire. "You may start, Seth," he said.

Seth, as he was called, did not say a word as he took the bottle and stepped up to Munna. The creature was twitching more now as Seth uncorked the bottle, and the pink substance snaked out slowly, finally free. He slowly traced a circle around Munna, allowing the mist to swirl around the creature. She stilled and slowly opened her eyes, blinking at the sight of the six unfamiliar humans.

Munna began panicked. She let out a high pitched yelp and suddenly glowed in Technicolor, no doubt revving up an attack. The six sages stepped back, not at all surprised, and Salvatore stepped forward. He pulled out a Pokéball from his robes and released the Cofagrigus that was residing within. A softly spoken command to the Ghost Pokémon prompted him to unleash a Psychic on the floundering pink creature. The attack stopped the Munna's own, red eyes shaking in terror and pain. The Psychic attack ceased, and the Munna physically slumped, the Dream Mist still swirling around her, waiting to be accepted. Salvatore smirked and took a step forward, addressing the suffering creature before him.

"Munna, Eater of Dreams, I have a simple request for you. With the dreams of a foolish old prophet, tell us who the heroes of legend will be reborn as, and no further harm will come to you," he said in a soft, yet dangerous voice.

Unfortunately, Munna had no clue what was happening, or even what the man was saying. She was in a place she had never seen before, surrounding by seven humans who were emitting terrifying auras. The man before her spoke with a tongue so violent and vulgar, and it stressed out the Drowsing Pokémon. When she backed away in response, whimpering, Salvatore's temper flared up, and he waved his arm, signaling another painful Psychic attack.

"Useless creature!" he snarled at Munna, who was trying hard not to weep in pain. "You don't seem to understand your situation. I've been waiting too long to see that dream of your precious, pathetic prophet friend of yours. Even while he was tortured, beaten and dying, he refused to tell us what he had seen. What a curious man." Salvatore smirked. "To be able to control his thought flow to the brink that he was able to lock up his prophecy within a dream! He tried so hard to keep you from us until his miserable death. Imagine our surprise when we found out you had the ability to decipher it. But you worthless prude," The man continued to watch Munna twitch in pain. "You could not even show it clearly—nothing but blurred colors. However tonight, we will finally clearly see the dream, the fortune that is my magnificent future."

Munna finally lost in endurance and yelped out. At that moment, the Dream Mist entered her mouth and her eyes began to glow. Images started to form in the pink mist streaming from Munna's head, which was pouring out in mass now. Salvatore's livid expression turned into one of awe and excitement. The sages all took an eager step forward as well, not wanting to miss a second of the vision.

The vision was blurred at first but slowly began to clear up as images of a Pokémon as dark as coal and another as white as snow flashed through the mist. As it became clearer, there were two other distinct figures showing. A white haired man stood at the side of a giant black dragon cloaked in blue lightning, screaming out with a face full of fury. A blurry brown haired trainer held their ground at the foot of an equally enormous white dragon bathed in golden flames. Salvatore did not pay any attention to the white dragon or the human at his flank. All of his focus was trained on the green haired man who was shouting commands at the black dragon. Both creatures reared and let loose a catastrophe of energy. Blue electricity and crimson flames engulfed the vision as it abruptly vanished, but Salvatore had seen all that he needed to see. Munna suddenly collapsed on the floor, unconscious, and Salvatore loomed over her triumphantly.

He stared up at the stars, their shining light glinting off his gluttonous eyes, a wicked grin spreading across his face as he pictured the image once more. However, Salvatore couldn't help but wonder who the other young man was battling against the white haired trainer.

Suddenly, two women burst into the chamber. One, by the name of Cornelia, had long lavender hair, a braid flapping as she ran forward, and the other, Animus, had flowing rose colored hair. Both were wearing bright smiles, bursting with good news.

"Lord Salvatore! We bring you good tidings!" Cornelia announced.

Animus beamed, "Your son has been born! Lady Roze has delivered you a son!"

Salvatore turned to them, the greed increasing in his gaze. "That's it. That's _him,_" he breathed. He strode forward to the two women. "A son you say? What a fortuitous day! Bring me to him!"

The women flinched for a moment at his slithery remark, but their smiles continued to shine as they led him upstairs. Their long cream colored dresses swept from side to side as they danced to the nursing chamber, the cries of a healthy newborn growing in volume.

However, a bloodcurdling scream suddenly erupted from the room, completely drowning out the sounds of the newborn baby inside, and everyone stopped in their tracks. A second later, Cornelia and Animus sprinted for the room and charged in with Animus demanding, "What has happened?"

They were greeted with the nurse covered in blood, desperate tears staining her face. She was frantically trying to stop the stream of blood that was gushing from the paling woman collapsed on the bed. "Lady Cornelia, Lady Animus, oh, it's terrible! Lady Roze will not stop bleeding!"

They were immediately with Lady Roze, who was losing blood quickly and in massive amounts. Animus immediately slung on a doctor's robe and gloves and worked to save the new mother's life, but in vain. "We need to operate! Her womb must be ruptured!" Animus screamed, but she knew that Lady Roze's life was already forfeit.

Salvatore had just entered the room, and his eyes froze on the bloody figure of his dying wife. His heart shattered as he reached for her. The crimson flood was swallowed in his deep red eyes, and he felt the world around him go strangely silent. The pure sound of a crying infant broke through, and there, in the arms of another nurse, was his son. A small mass of silver hair was visible on his head, and Salvatore's heart jumped back. He strode up the nurse and snatched the delicate baby in his knarred fingers. He ignored the screams of her protests, his eyes glazing over as an insane smile spread over his face. A small chuckle emitted from his throat, but it soon turned into bursting maniacal cackles.

All his dreams, all his aspirations…they were finally becoming a reality. They were all fulfilled in the bundle that was in his hands. He wrapped his greedy arms around his new born son, not willing to let the ticket to his glorious future go.

In the background, Cornelia tried to calm the hysterical man and relieve him of his child, but with one stroke of his arm, he smacked her head aggressively, sending her crashing to the cold marble floor. He settled back into his manic trance, back into his discordant world. Animus's robe was becoming bloodier by the minute as she frantically tried to stop the stream of blood, but to no avail. Lady Roze felt her strength leaving, and she reached for Animus. The frantic women stopped and gazed at the dying women through tear-stained eyes. Salty tears tore down her cheek, mixing with the blood on her face.

Her voice was hardly audible over the loud, rasping laughter of her husband. Lady Roze cast a glance at her husband, dulled eyes flickering with resentment. There had been things she meant to tell him, be it out of guilt or regret, but now, she will take her secrets to the grave for the sake of her son. For her son, she will remain silent.

As she turned back to Animus, a small tear escaped her eye. On her final breath, she gasped, "A…Animus…please...his…name…is…Gemini-" Before the name was finished, her voice died in her throat, and her emerald eyes glazed over into a dull green.

In the background, Salvatore's laughter continued, without a single thought for the death of his beloved wife. The young prince continued to shriek piercing cries, as if mourning the loss of the mother he never knew.

However, far in the distance, in the little city of Castelia, one last miracle was granted. Two cries broke the silent night, echoing down the halls of the hospital. In the room, a relieved woman proudly held her newborn twins in her arms as her husband sat at her side, gazing lovingly at his wife and children.

"What shall we name them?" the man asked his wife, kissing her flustered cheek.

She smiled softly, closing her eyes, humming to herself. She opened her eyes to gaze at her newborns. The girl had her father's aquamarine irises, and had already calmed down from her crying. The boy had his mother's warm chocolate eyes, and his piercing cries had changed into pealing laughter. "I think…I'll name them…Janelle and Jaden."

_Eighteen Years Later…_

A youth of eighteen was seated in front of a mirror, while two women were bustling around him, doing last minute adjustments of his hair and clothes. Both woman seemed exhausted, no doubt from years of mediocrity and hard work. Ever since the death of their dear Lady Roze, life at the castle was dull and cold. Life seemed to turn surreal and pointless, with no clear direction or purpose. Their last hopes of a meaningful existence rested in the stately young man sitting in front of them, the man who will bring a glorious future to the People of Faith, and perhaps bring purpose to the organization's goals.

The man gazed at the two women in the mirror with his sea blue eyes and asked in a patient voice, "Lady Cornelia, Lady Animus, are the arrangements finished yet?"

Cornelia smiled into the mirror with tired eyes, fluffing the man's long white hair one last time before answering, "You look marvelous, Lord Gemini. Your mother would have been so proud."

Gemini blinked slowly. He had rarely heard things about his departed mother, and when he did, they were always vague statements, such as the empty compliment Cornelia had just given him. He stood up as Animus fetched a glamorous golden cape, decorated with intricate designs and expensive gems, which she proceeded to tie onto his extravagant robe.

A knock was heard at the door of the dressing room, which Cornelia answered. One of the sages, Seth, was at the door, and he bowed his head, asking in his strong voice, "Is Lord Gemini ready yet?"

Gemini turned to the sage, who without delay bowed deeply. "Lord Gemini, everyone is ready for your coronation. Please come with me."

The young man nodded and walked out the door, with Animus holding up the long cape, so that it would not touch the floor as he walked. The other five sages were waiting for him, and they all took hold of the cape from both sides, so that they could continue carrying it in Animus's stead.

The group promenaded towards the coronation hall. The grand doors to the hall opened, and Gemini was met with the site of the hundreds of members of their clan. The group proceeded down along the navy blue carpet, walking regally to the golden throne that waited at the end of the enormous hall.

All around, murmurs of excitement and anticipation were heard as members of the People of Faith watched their future king being escorted to his grand throne. Gemini kept his head down as he walked lost in his thoughts. He reminisced in the memories of the dear Darmanitan he was friends with as a child…the sweet Zorua who had suffered so much…all the lost and hurt Pokémon he befriended. All these Pokémon had to endure the cruelty of humans; they had to endure the pain, the abuse, the abandonment, and the insults. Humans they trusted and loved eventually casted them aside like useless scum and trash. Remembering these Pokémon, Gemini recalled his true purpose in life, the reason he was here today.

He had finally reached the throne, and saw his father waiting for him. Was that pride he saw in his father's eyes? Pride that his son was finally ready to fulfill his duty of liberating the Pokémon of this world from the hands of oppressive trainers? Yes, that must be it.

For Gemini's only purpose in life was to free his friends, the Pokémon, and rid their lives of the nuisance that was the human race.

Gemini stepped up to his throne and turned around to face the masses that had congregated for his coronation. Beside him, his father, Salvatore, stepped forward, his commanding voice echoing through the colossal hall as he delivered his speech.

"Fellow brethren of the People of Faith, I thank you all today for joining us at this momentous occasion! Today, you shall witness the crowning of a king: your new king! My son, Gemini, has agreed to take over as the ruler of our magnificent society, and to fulfill his innate duties as the liberator of Pokémon from mankind!" Salvatore turned to face his son, the crown in his hand sparkling from the magnificent lights illuminating overhead. "So from this moment forward, I appoint thee, Gemini Roze, as the new ruler of our clan!"

Salvatore took the crown and placed it on Gemini's head as a vehement cacophony of applause erupted through the halls. Every member of his clan was cheering loudly for their new king, feeling as if their decades of hard work have finally paid off, and that the organization's true purpose will arise from the dust of their labors. Cornelia and Animus watched uneasily, still apprehensive about the situation. Was this really what they had wanted? What the world needed? The answer remained a mystery to them.

Salvatore watched his son, who had begun waving to his subjects. Gemini's expression was still stoic and emotionless, without any hint of excitement or enjoyment in the cheers of the people. Salvatore felt himself inwardly smirk. He had raised his son well.

Yes, after years of sweat and blood, his dreams were finally becoming a reality.

However, Salvatore couldn't help but wonder who that other trainer was from Munna's vision. He made a mental note of finding this young lad, and _soon_…

The sun reached over the horizon, tickling the landscape with its golden rays, starting the new day. Not a single soul was stirring in Castelia City.

Not long before the sun shined its first lights of the day, a young man suddenly shot up from his slumber, eyes already wide awake, and his head buzzing in excitement. His head snapped to his alarm clock, where the flashing lights of the digital clock read 5:27 A.M. It was not set to ring for at least another 2 hours, but it made no difference to this particularly excited teenager.

He swung his legs over the edge of his bed and hopped over to the bed adjacent to hers. A lumpy mess of blankets completely consumed the sleeping figure under them, but a snore so loud that a bulldozer would be jealous rumbled from underneath, and the boy grinned. With one graceful leap, he jumped onto the bed, the elasticity springing him up and down as he landed on the soft material. The boisterous snores ceased, and a small muffled groan broke the silence.

"Oi, Janelle, sis! Wake up!" The boy started to bounce on the bed, the springs creaking under the pressure. A muffled sound of protest came from the blankets, but the boy was not giving up. He took a particularly large bounce and landed in a straddling position on top of the lump, and a small yelp could be heard from Janelle at the moment of impact.

"Come on, come on, you _know_ what day today is, and if you don't, then there's something seriously wrong with you! Come on, don't you want to wake up early on this day?" With a wide grin on his face, he started to shake his sleeping twin, in hopes that she would at least poke her head out of the blankets. It was not very effective at all, and he felt Janelle pull herself tighter into a ball, curling beneath her blankets. Huffing in exasperation, he stood up and stared down at his sister. Deafening silence filled the room before he spoke up again.

"I said…" he leapt into the air and folded his legs in to a kneeling position, "…RISE AND SHINE!" before letting gravity slam his shins down, with a terrible force, on top of his unfortunate sleeping sister. A yell of pained surprise resounded through the room and Janelle finally pulled the blankets off her head, although she neither rose nor shined. Her sleepy eyes tried their best to give the laughing boy a withering glare, but to no avail. The boy rolled off of Janelle and sat Indian-style on the side of her bed, the grin still on hisjoyous face. "Good morning sis!" he chirped.

Janelle groggily lifted her head to look at the alarm clock. Squinting so that she could read the blurry numbers, she groaned and complained, "Jaden, its 5:30! Why the hell would anyone be awake this early for?"

Correction, two souls were now awake in Castelia.

Jaden smirked and hopped off the bed, landing with a soft thud. "How can you expect me to sleep on this momentous day? Hell, I'm surprised _you_ can sleep in!" he teased, stretching his stiff muscles and joints. True, he was only exaggerating. The two were going to meet their friends later, and have a birthday party, just like the year before this one, and the year before that…and the year before that…and basically for every year that the four of them were friends.

Janelle raised herself up into a sitting position and combed, using her fingers, her wavy brown hair, sighing again. Now that she was mostly awake, and sleep was leaving her mind, she began to compile herself. Jaden watched his sister hide behind her emotional wall again and inwardly sighed. She only ever seemed to show her true colors when she first woke up. Jaden hopped back onto her bed before taking a huge leap and landing back on his own bed. He grabbed two objects in both his fists from the table at his bedside before hopping back over to Janelle's bed, holding out one of his hands. Resting on his palm was a little keychain charm, the kind that can be strapped to a cell phone. A mini plastic Chandelure hung on a blue silk string, and a tag with her name, Janelle, was attached to it. Jaden flashed a bright grin to his twin and chirped, "Happy birthday, sis!" offering the charm to her again.

Janelle blinked before taking the charm, flashing her signature small smile. "And happy birthday to you, bro."

Jaden grinned and opened his other palm. It was also a cellphone charm, but instead of a Chandelure, an Gengar hung on a yellow string. "I got a matching charm," he smiled, "Since I know how you really love these ghost Pokémon, I figured it would be a nice gift!"

Considering that Jaden barely had any money to spend, it was an incredible miracle that he bought a gift, and Janelle knew it. As if reading her mind, Jaden scratched his cheek, and sheepishly said, "Since today is our birthday, I thought I'd actually try and get you something this year, ya know?" he cracked a small grin.

Janelle's smile grew a little wider and she replied, "Well thanks anyway. I like it, really." Although she did not say the words with particular eagerness, Jaden knew she was happy. It was a twin thing to say the least.

Janelle got out of bed and did some quick stretching before saying, "I've got a gift for you too, but get dressed first. Since we are up anyway, we might as well just start out early on our jog."

Jaden raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms. "Why can't I get it now?" he gave his sister a suspicious gaze, but Janelle shrugged it off and poked his head with her index finger. "Just trust me, okay?" She walked into the bathroom to brush his teeth.

Jaden sighed and followed after her. Once inside, he grabbed his toothbrush and slathered on a mountain of toothpaste before brushing his teeth furiously. In contrast, Janelle used a sufficient amount of toothpaste, brushing in a methodical manner, careful not to miss a single inch of her mouth. Safe to say, Jaden was done much faster than his sister was and rushed back into the room to change. He threw on some sports apparel and was in the processing of putting on a pair of socks when Janelle came back into the room as well. With that, he ran to the bathroom and ran his fingers through his voluminous mess of brown hair.

Janelle herself pulled her hair up into a bouncy ponytail, and she tied it off with a hair tie and smiled. She then noticed that two strands of hair were sticking up…again. Sighing, she wet her finger and tried to press them down, but to no avail. Frustrated, she rolled her eyes and stomped out of the bathroom. For as long as she could tie her hair into a ponytail, those two hairs plagued her. She would not mind them as much if people did not call them "cute." If there was one thing she hated, it was people calling her "cute." Sure, Janelle loved her baby Pokémon and stuffed plush toys, but heaven forbid anyone call her adorable. She did _not_ do adorable.

Afterwards, Janelle had dressed herself in jogging attire as well, and was…holding something behind her back. Blinking, Jaden walked forward to her, looking at her in anticipation. She gave him a small smile and pulled one of her hands out from behind her back. Jaden grinned.

"Is that…?"

"Yep."

Jaden took the present, a jacket, from her hands and held it like it was a pirate's treasure. The red blazerhad a high collar and a black Pokéball design sewed onto both pockets. Practically bursting from excitement, he exclaimed, "Sis! This is Lucario Apparel's new Sports Edition blazer! These aren't even released yet, how did you…?" His voice trailed off. Oh of course: Janelle is friends with manager of the new sports store that opened up last month.

Janelle nodded to his inaudible realization. "Yeah I had my friend to pull some strings, since she owed me a favor anyways. I got to buy the hat before the official release next week. You like it?"

Jaden scoffed, trying the blazer on from himself. He pulled his left arm through, adjusting it before grinning. "You tell me. Do I look like I like it?"

Janelle feigned ignorance and shrugged. "Dunno. You're not smiling enough," she teased as she pulled her other arm from behind her back.

Jaden lightly punched her in the arm, grinning. "You're the best, sis, ya know?" Jaden chuckled, walking past her.

"You're welcome. Come on, let's get going," Janelle replied as she opened the door of their bedroom. She briefly ran down the stairs while Jaden decided for sliding down on the railing bars. They two went to the kitchen to grab their water bottles before opening the door to the outside.

The crisp and cool morning air hit their warm faces, and the two stepped out. By now, the sun was shining a bit brighter, illuminating the dim morning scenery with its golden light. The joyful song of early morning Pidove foretold the coming of a great day. Jaden ran after a huge gathering of them, and upon seeing the boy chasing them, the Pidove scattered in all directions, disappearing into the canopies of trees. Janelle said nothing of her brother's childish exploits, and turned to lock the door, a task she was used to doing after Jaden would run off upon leaving the house. Seemed like turning seventeen did nothing to quench the everlasting child-like spirit he harbored within him. In some ways, it was something to be envied and admired.

Jaden's voice broke her out of her thoughts, as he impatiently called for her to hurry up. Janelle shrugged to herself and ran forward, catching up with her speedy twin.

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It was close to 7:45 when the twins returned home. They tiptoed into the house and back up to their room, careful not to wake up their parents. Their large bathroom had two showers, installed by their father for their convenience and privacy. By the time the sun was higher up in the sky, they were ready and dressed for the day to come.

Jaden wore a simple red T-shirt underneath his new jacket. His long white skinny jeans touched the floor, and he made a note to tuck them into his shoes later when he left the house.

Janelle wore a loose white tank top and a short trimmed black vest. Her hair was back up in a bouncy ponytail, topped off with a pink and black sports cap. Making sure that everything was in check, Janelle did one last twirl in the mirror. And with that, the twins walked down the staircase, where the telltale sounds of bacon sizzling and metal utensils banging against pots told them that their mother was awake, and cooking a birthday breakfast for them.

"Morning Mom!" Jaden gushed, bursting into the kitchen. Their mother, a rather attractive woman for her age, turned and smiled at her son. "Good morning, honey! Happy birthday!"

Even though his mother was busy cooking, Jaden ran up to hug her, planting a kiss on her cheek before walking to the table to take his seat. Janelle walked up as well, saying "Morning, Mom," with a warmer smile than usual.

Her mother returned with a bright smile of her own, reiterating her words from earlier, "Good morning, sweetie, and happy birthday!" Her daughter took a seat at the table, replying with her thanks.

Jaden grabbed a carton of orange juice from the table and filled his glass to the brim while Janelle went for the milk. Their mother soon finished her cooking and brought over their dishes. Both had eggs, hash browns, bacon, and pancakes. However, Jaden had chocolate chip pancakes while Janelle had blueberry, just as they liked. They waited until their mother sat down with her own plate of food before digging in, but not before Jaden had drowned all of his food in maple syrup. _All of it. _

Janelle smiled rolling her eyes at his actions as she dripped reasonable amounts of syrup onto her pancakes. In many ways, the two of them were so different, but it somehow brought them closer. She chewed her food thoughtfully as she watched her brother delightedly shovel syrup covered eggs into his mouth. Maybe syrup on eggs tasted good?

Janelle forked a piece of her scrambled eggs and dipped it into the runoff syrup on her plate. She put the morsel in her mouth, letting the taste sink into her tongue. Furrowing her eyebrows, she decided that the taste did not suit her after all.

"So when will you two be meeting with Aster and Syrus?" the twins' mother asked, looking at her teenagers.

Jaden was first to speak. "Oh uh, I think we were supposed to meet them at Syrus' house!"

He did not provide the answer his mother was looking for, so Janelle helped him. "Around 9:00. Syrus wanted to give us our gifts first, so we are going to his house first."

With a twinkle in her eye, their mother said, "Oh is that so? Well, I have a small gift of my own for you two, but it will not be ready until 10:00. Why don't you bring over Syrus and Aster around then?"

Now both Jaden and Janelle were surprised. What kind of gift needed extra preparation? One look at their mother and they knew her lips were sealed. Janelle had already decided not to press on, not caring all too much. She was able to wait. Jaden, however, was a different story.

"What's our gift?" he asked, eyes sparkling in curiosity. His mother shook her head with a smile, saying, "I can't say. It's supposed to be a surprise."

But Jaden was relentless, pleading, "Not even a little, tiny, _itsy-bitsy _hint?" he pouted. Janelle listened on, amused when her mother rejected Jaden's infamous pout. "Nope. No can tell." Jaden sighed in resignation, stabbing a whole pancake and holding the floppy cake to his mouth, eating it in huge chomps.

The family of three finished their breakfast with little conversation afterwards, and Jaden helped his mother bring the dishes to the sink while Janelle brought the drink cartons back to the fridge. The clock was flashing the time as 8:50, and Jaden ran towards the door to get his black high top sneakers on, tucking his long pants into them. Janelle slipped on her shoes as well, but in a much slower fashion.

Grabbing his cobalt shoulder bag, Jaden ran out the door, yelling, "Bye Mom! We'll be back later!"

Janelle smiled before throwing the strap of her purse, adding, "See you later Mom." catching up to her energetic twin.

The sky was an azure blue, decorated with delicate wisps of white clouds. A breeze began to pick up, gently rustling through the trees and blowing away any loose leaves. It was a pleasant feel…especially in the unusually warm winter weather.

From here, the twins decided to release their Pokémon, so that they could also enjoy the fresh air. Four Pokéballs were thrown, two from each of the twins, was tossed into the air. The red and white spheres exploded, releasing the creatures from within them.

"Senshi, Elektra!" Jaden called. "Come on out!"

Senshi is Jaden's Braviary, an eagle-like Pokémon. His face and underside are a navy blue, while his back and the dorsal side of his wings are dark red. Senshi's feathery "mane" on the back of his head and neck also resembles a Native American war bonnet. Elektra on the other hand was a large lamprey-like creature known as Eelektross. Aside from her slick blue body, and paddle-like arms, Elektra's most distinct is her circular mouth, which she used to breathe fire whenever she gets angry.

"Goliath, Lavender, go!"

Once again, two red and white Pokéballs were tossed, bursting into a blinding light. After the light subsided, Janelle's partners Goliath, a dual type ghost and ground with large fists, mainly used for his attacks, and the appearance of a enormous suit of armor with his chest covered by a large band-aid, and Lavender, a small candle-like creature who's head burns with a eerie blue flame.

"C'mon, we're burning daylight!" Jaden grabbed Janelle's hand and ran to a path which leads to Nacrene as their partners followed.

Responding to an impatient tug on her sleeve, Janelle finally found the ability to move her feet again after about a five minutes later. Jaden's whining voice broke through her possessed thoughts. "Come on sis! Wouldn't you rather be on the bridge? Quit gawking and let's go!" Another impatient tug nearly caused the female twin to trip, but she hurried behind her ecstatic brother after a short stumble.

The twin's Pokémon followed after their human companions, exhausted from the run. Luckily, Nacrene was only about a twenty minute journey from Castelia by bike, and about thirty by foot. Now, the twins were so close to one of the most visited places in Unova, if the magnificent bridge was any indication.

With a jump in his step, Jaden entered the gateway to the bridge, a small office next to the car lanes. All pedestrians and bicyclists had to pass through the office in order to enter the bridge since a toll was exacted on all travelers. Janelle had warned Jaden ahead of time, knowing all too well that he would just charge through the gatehouse without paying. So she had anticipated his reaction when he saw the line at the toll booth.

"Aw man, there's a long line!" he complained loudly, drawing the attention of several travelers.

Looking around, Janelle said, "It will move fast enough. Just be patient."

Janelle was not quite concerned with such thoughts. Even though her Lavender was the only Pokémon yet to evolve, she loved using each of her Pokémon, and did not mind her slow growth. In reality, she was far more preoccupied by other concerns, which were exacerbated by Jaden's impatient pacing.

"This bridge…it's really high up isn't it?" she asked, glancing out the window, seeing a perfect view of the architectural phenomenon. Her eyes flickered to the water lapping against the support pillars, but quickly focused back on the illuminated bridge.

"Since when are _you_ afraid of heights?" Jaden asked, raising his eyebrows in surprise. That was a first for him. He was never under the impression that his twin was afraid of anything.

Quickly shaking her head, Janelle blurted, "No, no! It's not like that. I was…simply commenting on the height of the bridge." She trailed off, gazing thoughtfully at the structure again. Her eyes flickered back to the water before they shifted to look at the line in front of her. Because of her short height, everyone else towered over Janelle, and she stood on the tips of her toes, hoping to see how long the line stretched.

Goliath watched his trainer's movements with interest. He did not miss the real focus of her eyes when she was staring out the window, but said nothing. Seeing her current antic, he hatched a plan. Innocently, he grabbed Janelle by her waist, exciting a surprised squeal from the girl, and with ease, he lifted her up.

Jaden chortled as Janelle's earlier thoughts were completely swept from her mind by Goliath's actions, and she squeaked, "Goliath, put me down!"

With a nod, Goliath set the female twin back down, amused that her cheeks were flushed with a rosy pink. "Why would you do that?" she asked. There was no accusation in her voice, only innocent surprise.

With a chuckle, Jaden answered from him, "You wanted to see over peoples' heads. Were you able to?"

Janelle paused thoughtfully. "Yeah…the line is really long…" she admitted, readjusting her sports cap with a small smile.

Upon hearing this, Jaden unleashed another loud and irritated groan.

**§·..·¤°°¤·..·¤°°¤·..·¤°°¤·..·¤°°¤·..·¤°°¤·..·¤°°¤·..·¤°°¤·..·¤°°¤·..·§**

After a fifteen minute wait, the twins had reach Nacrene. Nacrene really wasn't that much different from other towns. It was just a little bigger and had a Pokémon Center and mart. There were also large apartment complexes and cafes made of old warehouses, and the of course, the museum.

With their destination in near, Jaden quickened his pace. However, before he could take another step, Senshi suddenly dove in front of him. Raising one of his eyebrows, Jaden opened his mouth to speak, but was cut short by Elektra pulling him back. He briefly peered next to him to find Lavender trying to pull Janelle by the laces of her sneakers.

"Lavender, what's the matter?" Janelle bent down to pet the small ghost, who just continued to pull her shoes' laces with all her might.

At the same time, the ground erupted from the point where the twins were standing. The twins turned their heads to the left, and stared face-to-face at their attacker. It was purple android that resembled much of a Lopunny with the exception of its blood red eyes.

"Yuki Jaden and Janelle," The android spoke in a female, yet mechanical voice. "I have been given the authority to hunt and destroy the two of you."

Janelle's eyes widened. "What…?"

"Just who are you working for?" Jaden questioned.

"You won't have long enough to worry about." The android said.

The purple mechanism dived forward and plunged its fist at Elektra's head. The oversized lamprey grinned and easily sidestepped to watch the android smash the rock behind him. The android glared and swiped its foot around for Elektra, who easily ducked underneath it.

"Try using Dragon Claw, Elektra!" Jaden shouted from the side lines. "Senshi, go in for a Crush Claw attack!"

Given the opportunity, Elektra decided to give the android a dose of her Dragon Claw attack by slamming her glowing fists directly to its chest. The android went flying across the plain, but flipped in midair and landed back on its feet. However, before it could even have a moment to calculate its next move, Senshi was already hanging over its head in the air. Senshi learned a few tricks from his father, Haru. With his claws glowing with a blue and white power, Senshi made a beeline for the purple mech. Moments before he hit; Senshi screeched and slammed his sharp claws at the android's head, sending it face-faulting onto the ground.

"Had enough yet?" Jaden said arrogantly.

"But I have barely begun to fight." The android stated.

"Yeah, I think you better stay down." Jaden said, as Elektra patted the android's head in a mocking manner. "You don't want to get broken, do you?"

"You cursed human," The android growled.

As the android raised its head, Jaden noticed its eyes glowing neon purple. All of a sudden, it vanished and reappeared behind Elektra. The android twisted its legs around and slammed its foot to the side of her face. As Elektra tumbled across the grassy field, the android zipped in front of the blue lamprey and kneed her in the chest. The force of the impact sent Elektra rocketing to the sky, but not a moment too long. A few second later, the android appeared over Senshi and repeated its earlier attack. Just as Senshi bounced off the ground beside Elektra, the mech dropped and slammed its knees into their backs, pushing them further into the ground.

"I think this has gone on long enough." The mech said. "Just surrender while your Pokémon still have their lives."

"No way," Jaden smirked, tossing his partners a Sitrus berry each. "We're just getting started."

"You humans have an unusual sense in entertainment." The android stated. "And besides, I have your so called _partners_ trapped under two hundred pounds of pressure. What could they possibly do in this situation?"

"Watch and learn." Jaden grinned. "Ready?" he asked, turning his attention to Janelle.

She smirked, commanding her Golurk. "Hammer Arm, Goliath!"

Goliath closed his eyes in concentration, his body glowing with aura the color of fire. Then before the android could react, its body was being crushed by Goliath's massive fist. With another punch, Goliath sent it skyrocketing across the city, and into a dumpster.

"Well, that was almost fun." Jaden shrugged. A piece of paper landed on the ground in front of his feet. He removed the paper and began to read it;

_Congratulations, young trainer,_

_You have survived my test and are invited to a grand event: The Ultimate World Tournament. Trainers from all across the world will contend for the ultimate prize: a crown to an extraordinary kingdom. If you wish to attend this momentous occasion, this will act as your personal invitation. You must also form a four-man cell to compete against other teams.  
_**  
**_The first plane to Apotos will depart at 8:30 at Station Square. I will anticipate your participation_

_Sincerely,  
Salvatore Roze_

"Interesting," Jaden mumbled looking over the note one time. "Do you think we should enter?" he looked to his twin for a response.

Janelle shrugged, hugging Lavender close to body. "Well, it's better than being stuck in Castelia for the rest of the summer,"

Unknown to twins, others were receiving the same trials and invitations.

**Unova…Nacrene City…**

During this beautiful summer day, a group of Wingull soared in lazy circles across the clear blue sky, an invigorating salty breeze blew in from the sea, and the sun gleamed off the many walls and windows of the metropolis, some of which showed signs of recently repaired damage.

In a small, but clean and tastefully decorated house near the heart of the city, the well-known trainer and battle scholar Truesdale Zane leaned back in a chair near the window, by the remains of a Druddigon android reading his invitation with interest. He was a tall, thin young man no more than nineteen, with dark blue hair and matching eyes, and was dressed as usual in a suit, a rose corsage and small, decorative pince-nez. His Mesprite, Athena, was currently by his side, her eyes glittering with enthusiasm.

"You think I should enter, correct?" he asked, setting the letter down on his desk. The psychic Pokémon nodded.

"I won't pretend it isn't an interesting concept. But you do remember the last tournament I entered, don't you? I've just spent a good deal of my savings helping to repair the city."

Zane shuddered in a refined way, thinking back to the last tournament, which had concluded two years ago in Kanto. The tournament had turned out to be a ruse designed by forces of unspeakable evil, and between that and an easily offended trainer with a Gyarados, large portions of Saffron City had been decimated. Part of the stadium, which was normally the Contest Hall, was still in wreckage. The city's residents had been hypnotized at one point, and Zane himself had fought a battle to the death with a rampaging Lugia.

On the other hand, though… he gazed at the poster of Pokétopia on his wall. There was nothing he enjoyed more than traveling the world and battling. The thrill of battle was still important to him, and as bizarre as it might sound he had even enjoyed being in the tournament. He should be jumping at this new chance to hone his skills. Besides, he had been Pokétopia many times before. What could go wrong there?

He would attend, he decided – reading his emotions, Athena smiled a bit—but, he told himself as he began to fill out the information required in flowing script, he would do a few background checks beforehand.

Gazing out of the window while wrestling with the difficult task of describing his own personality, Zane spotted a large bird with a red crown which he quickly identified as an Unfezant flying overhead. Unfezant weren't native to Sinnoh, and as he looked closer he spotted a scarf tied around his neck. Beyond a doubt, this identified it as belonging to one of his old friend and traveling companion, Atticus. Throwing the window open, Zane waved it in.

The Unfezant landed heavily on the desk in a flurry of feathers, gave a weary chirp of greeting and tossed Zane the scroll it had held in one claw before slumping to the ground. Zane brought the exhausted bird Pokémon a bowl of water, which it gulped down gratefully, then unfurled the scroll and began to read his friend's message, written in a familiar scrawl;

_Yo, Zane!_

_I hope you're okay with the weather out in Canalave. What a summer…Hoenn has been a total oven! Route 228 has been totally deserted for about a week and I'm spending all my time on the beach._

_Anyway, what am I doing talking about the weather? I'm guessing you got invited to this new tournament in Pok__é__topia, too. I got my invitation yesterday and I'll be leaving for Pok__é__topia as soon as Majesty gets back. This should be a ton of fun – we've both been to Pok__é__topia before, and its one great place! My team is in top form! I heard something about an opening banquet, too …_

_Well, I'll see you there! You can tell me about that tournament I saw you were in earlier. It looked … interesting._

_Tempest sends her regards!_

_Atticus_

Zane chuckled at the letter, which was very typical of his enthusiastic friend. Atticus' Milotic, Tempest was one of the toughest members of his team. He turned the letter over and wrote on the back;

_I will indeed see you at the tournament. Canalave's weather has been perfect and I believe that a cooler front should hit Sinnoh soon. And for Arceus' sake, buy yourself a boat ticket in Snowpoint City. Don't fly on Majesty the whole way there. You don't want him to be worn out before the tournament even starts! I shall probably see you at the banquet regardless._

_Until then,_

_Zane_

Rolling the paper back into a scroll, he turned to Athena, who had been waiting patiently for him all this time. "Come, Athena, we have a plane ticket to purchase," he said, recalling the psychic Pokémon back into her Pokéball. He added to Majesty, who was now perched on his bookcase, "We can stop at the Canalave Wharf restaurant on the way to give you a good meal before your next long flight. How do fish tacos sound to you?"

Majesty gave a satisfied squawk and followed him out the door, both of them thinking of the adventure awaiting them in Pokétopia.

**Unova…Nacrene City…The Truesdale Household...**

Up in his room, Syrus was furiously coloring his card for his best friend, and secret crush. He had meant to wake up early to finish it, but had overslept, so was now rushing wildly to complete it. He grunted as his arm started to cramp from the speedy movement, but pushed on, seeing that it was nearly time for Jaden and Janelle's arrival.

At a minute to 9:00, he finally relieved his cramping arm of coloring duty, and proudly held up his card. Downstairs, the soft sound of a doorbell was heard, and Syrus felt proud that he had finished just in time. He hopped up from his desk, grabbing the two gift bags he had on his desk and stuffing the newly finished cards into the respective bags. After slipping his sneakers, he barged out of her room and nearly fell down the stairs, stumbling and fortunately catching himself before he could end up in a really painful situation. Syrus heard the door bell again, quickened his pace down the stairs, tripping again, but was not as fortunate to catch his self this time. Although he did not fall to the ground, he did end up crashing into a wall in front of the stairs instead, a loud thud resounding throughout the house. Rubbing his stinging face and dusting off his yellow sweater and grey trousers, he walked towards the front door. A silly, friendly grin spread across his face at the sight of his two friends.

However, instead seeing the twins at the door, Syrus came face to face with an android that resembled an Electivire. Thinking it was lost Pokémon Syrus tried talking to it, to see if its trainer or someone it recognized was nearby. But, before Syrus could speak, the creature lashed out at him with a Fire Punch assail. Syrus escaped before the attack could harm him but knew that he needed to defend himself. With a toss of Pokéball, and a flash of light, appeared his partner Prinplup.

"Prinplup, go!"

"Start off with a Whirlpool!" Syrus ordered. A burn would both pain the android and lower its formidable attacking power, so he knew it was best to strike as early as possible for the best results. Prinplup breathed out a swirling vortex of water, which hovered towards the android, spiraling with intense power.

The android countered, and a shimmering panel of energy suddenly appeared in front of it. Prinplup's whirlpool slashed as it crashed into the barrier, but one by one they sputtered out, unable to penetrate it. The android took this time to attack with a Charge Beam assault.

"Fight it off with Hydro Pump!" Syrus parried, and electricity and pressurized water collided over the battle-field, pressing up against each other as each Pokémon put more and more energy into the attack.

The android suddenly rumbled towards Prinplup, its fist flaming and drawing in the power of fire as it tried getting as close as it could. It knew that Prinplup's ability was Thick Fat, so a Fire Punch would only dish a small amount of damage, but as soon as Prinplup got within range it would change tack and Prinplup would be suffering a dead-on as well as super effective Thunder-punch.

"Prinplup, that can't hurt you! Try using Whirlpool instead!" Syrus said eagerly, seeing that the android had apparently made a mistake in the heat of battle. Prinplup stopped the Hydro Pump and instead unleashed a towering tornado of water, which hissed and spat as it moved to completely envelop the charging android he faced.

The android stopped in its tracks for a second and actually allowed Whirlpool to swirl around it, threatening to wash out his circuits before he exploded it outwards with a blast of mental energy. Prinplup was taken by surprise as the android emerged relatively unharmed from the water, which was now reduced to a rain of ineffectual water drops that floated down like snow. The penguin Pokémon squawked as the android crackling fist slammed into him, pounding him with dozens of volts on top of the raw strength of the blow, but he jumped back to his feet again with a growl, eager to fight back for his trainer.

"Prinplup, attack with Iron Claw!" Syrus cried annoyed at his self for being caught out completely by the android's combination and Prinplup loped forwards, his flippers glowing with power.

At what seemed to be the last possible second, and Prinplup's swipe stopped short of his target, was halted by a thick translucent shield that sprung up with a split-second of Prinplup's concentration.

"In that case, use Hydro Pump!" Syrus commanded as soon as Prinplup landed, and the android stumbled backwards, bellowing in pain as a concentrated jet of water smashed its barrier and washed up against it.

The android was pushed further and further back by the stream of water, it stomped one of its feet onto the ground as hard as he could, sending out a ripple of shockwaves.

"Prinplup, jump and use Iron Claw!" Syrus instructed.

With an air of terrible finality, and as the shockwaves rolled underneath Prinplup, a bolt of lightning rained down from on high, catching him in mid-leap as the android directed it with masterful skill. As Prinplup wasn't grounded, the Thunder's power hammered him even harder than usual, wracking him with electrical power that made his blue feathers and smoke as he fell to the floor with a thump.

The android continued to attack, and Prinplup yelped with pain as an equally powerful strike sent him flying before he could even properly get to his feet, and his body trembled as he rose bravely to fight again. Prinplup's skin and feather crackled with electricity and the android's face creased with annoyance as his Water type foe got back up. It had hit the penguin with all of its best moves, and still he was willing to fight. Prinplup, on the other hand, was keeping going on sheer courage and devotion alone, a fact that Syrus quickly picked up on.

"Prinplup, try and rest a while. Let them make the first move," he whispered, and Prinplup nodded, panting tiredly.

The android did not want to relax until Prinplup is completely unconscious or dead—whatever came first. It was not willing to jeopardize its chances with an overconfident strike, and hit Prinplup with a Charge Beam at full power. Prinplup's eyes shut with pain as a continuous bolt of lightning zapped him; it wasn't as strong as the Thunder, but he could feel his strength ebbing by the second. Pain flared in every part of his body as the android increased the voltage, intent on destroying his will to fight as quickly as possible. He shivered and was about to pass out, but Syrus' voice tethered him to reality.

"Prinplup, please keep going! You can beat this guy, I know you can! Throw off his Charge Beam and use Blizzard!" Prinplup steeled his legs as hard as possible, concentrating only on staying upright before forcing his eyelids open and gritting his teeth. He was flirting more and more with blissful unconsciousness, but his pride wouldn't let him go down without a good fight. Standing firm, he bucked his head and dissipated the Charge Beam with sheer strength and determination.

The android could see that Prinplup's resolve was far higher than he would have expected, and the stadium was bathed in the glow of two incredible attacks as both creatures unleashed their elemental power. Prinplup's eyes widened as a rippling bolt of purest lightning struck him from the sky, but the android was having its own fair share of problems as a howling blizzard consumed him in a deadly storm. Both Prinplup and the android remained conscious only for a few more seconds before collapsing practically simultaneously, smoking slightly from the sheer energy they had unleashed and received in equal measure. While Syrus held his fallen comrade, he suddenly noticed a piece of paper on the ground beside the android. He picked it up, carefully reading over the note.

_There's going to be a tournament this year in Pokétopia…_ he thought. _Hmm…I wonder if my friends will be there._

**Sinnoh…Trophy Garden/Anderson Manor…**

Some people might raise their eyebrows if they're told that a certain nineteen-year-old girl is scared of the dark, but they wouldn't really consider it an oddity. If, however, someone told them that the same girl has been haunted by ghosts almost daily in her dreams ever since birth…well, how would they react?

She wasn't ready to find out, so she kept both a secret that she'll carry to the grave.

But right now, with no one to watch as she wandered alone in utter darkness, aware that a ghost's hand would leap out any moment and seize her, she couldn't help but tremble and whimper. She was glad that her friends weren't around to see her like this, but if they _were_ here, even in this utter blackness, she wouldn't have been so afraid in the first place.

Suddenly, a faint glow watt ahead of her caught her attention. This had almost never happened before. By instinct she immediately raced toward the light—anything to get away from the awful dark! She kept running for about fifteen seconds until the race abruptly ended with her tripping over something and coming down flat on her face.

"Ow…" she muttered as she got to her feet, only to discover that the darkness was completely gone, as if it had never existed. Instead she found herself sitting on a large, grassy cliff-side, the sky blue above her and the wind blowing pleasantly. Looking below, the girl gasped as she saw a chain of great cities, linked by a single, looping road in a way that the entire region appeared like a giant ring - or rather, as she examined a long tail leading out of the southern part of the ring, a colossal Arbok.

"Where am I?" She wondered aloud. This certainly wasn't like any region she had ever heard about: Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn...

_"A land that is far distant from yours,"_ spoke a clear, female voice full of wisdom and mystery, echoing not inside her ear but within her mind. Whirling around in shock, the girl saw a very familiar blue shape floating in front of her, its identity way too discernible from its yellow turban and closed eyes.

"Uxie…!" The girl exclaimed, a small part of her mind recognizing that the Knowledge Pokémon was a female after all. "What are you doing here? And - and, err, forgive me. I wasn't aware that you were capable of speaking to a human."

"_It would be most shameful is the being who presides over all knowledge doesn't know how to communicate with an entire race_," Uxie replied in an amused tone, flying over the girl's head to the edge of the cliff, with the beautiful ring-shaped region still visible below. "_You see below this cliff the distant region of Unova, a place where the energy of the universe flows strong... which may soon lead to its demise_."

"Demise…?" The girl gasped in horror. "What do you mean? Please explain."

"_A great power born with the universe will soon make itself known in this region_," said Uxie grimly. "_A great storm will break out, consuming not only this land but over the vast seas and the entire world as well... unless an adventurous and brave individual rises to stop it with the help of his friends_. And you, you are one of them."

Silence…

"...Me?" The girl asked incredulously. "But…you can't be serious!"

"_It appears that you harshly underestimate yourself, both as a person and a trainer_." The Knowledge Pokémon replied, her tone perfectly serious.

"But what am I supposed to do?" The girl inquired desolately, feeling as if an enormous mountain had just risen in front of her. Was she telling her she was supposed to scale it?

"_There is no need to fear, wielder of the Highest Power, for you shall not be alone in this plight_," said Uxie quietly. "_Others shall join you on this quest; sixteen propel who have been chosen by destiny to protect this universe from untimely destruction_."

"_Please hurry, time is short..."_ as she said this, to the girl's horror the Knowledge Pokémon began to float away from her, slowly fading against the suddenly-darkening sky.

"No, wait!" She cried out, only to have her voice drowned out by an enormous thunder that split the sky. Instinctively looking down, the girl could only stand and watch in utmost shock as the cities below her were quickly consumed by fire and lightning, ice creeping over its edges and an unending shadow slipping across the land…

"NO!"

Anderson Sabrina cried as her eyes snapped open only to half-shut them again as bright sunlight ruthlessly invaded them. Sitting up in her luxurious bed and shaking her head groggily, she stared blankly out at the window for awhile, playing the dream over and over in her head. All she could understand was that after her usual dream of darkness and ghosts, Uxie had come to her and pleaded to save a region called Unova before it became a center of apocalypse—if you could call that understanding.

At this point most people would have shaken it off as a bad nightmare, but Sabrina had learned from her past journeys that not even dreams could be overlooked so easily. And there was something, just _something _about the whole thing that told her that this wasn't just a dream.

Checking the clock to find that it was already over 7:30 a.m. _Talk about oversleeping, _she thought wryly. Sabrina quickly got out of bed to dress.

**Sinnoh...Floaroma Town Bazaar… **

"You know, I had that dream again…" Sabrina sighed as she and her younger brother Jesse who flown the two of them and their Pokémon to Floaroma's Bazaar on his Dragonair in hopes that it would cheer Sabrina up.

Jesse looked at his weary sibling. "The one where Uxie talks to you, right?"

"That's the one…" Sabrina sighed looking around at the many items on display. Upon spotting one particular display of Pokémon being sold for a pretty reasonable price, Sabrina wrinkled her nose in disgust. How would anyone want to obtain a Pokémon that way?

Just the sheer thought anger her, and Sabrina made her personal mission to purchase all the vender's Pokémon, and set them free. After all, all living creatures deserved to be free to live their lives.

With her wallet in hand Sabrina began walking towards the stand where the Pokémon were being sold. However, before she could take a single step, she was pulled back by Cerberus, her Houndoom. Cerberus tugged at the skirt Sabrina's blue dress again to get her attention. The blond trainer kneeled down, petting the horned K-9's head.

"What's the matter boy?" she asked, continuing to pet him.

"I'm guessing it has something to do with that," Jesse pointed to one of the stalls near the local flower shop.

At first, Sabrina failed to notice what Jesse was referring to. But, after noticing Jesse's hissing Espeon, she spotted it; slithering from spot to another was an android that appeared to be a silver Ditto. Once the android had the siblings in sight, it immediately approached them, its eyes glowing with power.

Sabrina looked horrified. "What…what is that thing?"

"I don't know. But whatever it is, it's getting closer." Jesse smirked, reaching for a Pokéball from his belt.

Seeing this as a challenge and before Sabrina had her say, he immediately took charge of the situation.

"Ruby, I'll need for you to keep Sabrina safe—use Protect!" Ruby, Jesse's Espeon, nodded creating a barricade around herself, Sabrina, and Cerberus using her psychic power. The red gem on her forehead and her eyes glowed as she did so.

"Dragonair, it's time to battle!" Jesse called, tossing the red and white ball into the air. With seconds, it exploded into a majestic blue dragon.

"Hit it before it can transform! Attack with Water Pulse!" Jesse said, and Dragonair blasted a huge ring of water towards the android as he slipped into the water like a sinuous serpent.

Once there, the android flattened its self onto a floating platform, letting the Hydro Pump speed overhead before he expertly morphed his very DNA to adopt the image of his opponent, perfect in every detail. The only difference was that android wore a devilish, gloating grin, whilst Jesse's Dragonair looked slightly troubled on facing his mirror image.

"Looks like this won't be an easy win, then. Keep focused, Dragonair. I know we can beat it," Jesse said, and Dragonair hummed in response, watching as the android slipped into the water, mirroring his enemy's moves like a childish mimic.

After a short while, the android stopped it's mimicking reluctantly, standing to attention.

"Dragonair, use Dragon Dance. May as well set ourselves up for the long haul," Jesse said quickly, and Dragonair's scales rippled as he slowly drew energy from the water that surrounded him. "Alright, now let's strike first with a Dragon Pulse!" Dragonair breathed out a swirling vortex of air, which quickly drew in water and became a roiling whirlpool that threatened to suck the android in and pound it mercilessly.

Defending it's self the android zapped the oncoming Dragon Pulse with a crackling beam of icy energy, freezing it in place like a gigantic sculpture. However, despite the gasps of wonder from the gathering crowd, this was just what Jesse had expected and hoped for.

"Aqua Tail and then follow it up with Dragon-breath!" he said triumphantly, and Dragonair burst from the water, swinging his fanned, water-veiled tail in like a mace and shattering the ice-Twister with a single deadly blow. Before the shards could even scatter, Dragonair was bathing them with steaming purple fire, funneling all the power he could spare into the strange flames before plopping back into the water as gravity took its toll. The android was struck dumb as a steaming purple mist floated towards him, full of sharp ice shards and filled with Paralyzing power, a stunning combination that drew even more wonder than Jesse's Togekiss's Thunder Rain.

The android suddenly stopped where it was, cloaking it's self in protective power as the Dragon Mist engulfed him completely. The creature gritted its teeth as ice shards pummeled and stabbed him, and he recoiled from the residue of Dragon-breath that filled the purple-tinted air, but thanks to it's quick thinking the paralyzing aspect Jesse was counting on didn't work at all, and as the Dragon Mist died away the android was ready for action once more.

"This guy's good, very good. But we're not weaklings ourselves," Jesse said firmly, and Dragonair nodded with agreement. "Attack with Dragon Pulse!"

The android was hoping to psyche Jesse out to the point where he would be easy pickings, and it seemed that imitating it to the letter was the best way to go about that. The two attacks slammed against each other, but neither of them gave an inch, as they were completely and utterly equal. Jesse thought for moment, trying to come up with a new tactic before shouting,

"Dragonair, Aqua Tail!" Dragonair gave up his Dragon Pulse and sped towards the android like a torpedo, water swirling around his tail as it became a focal point of power.

Hoping to cancel out the attack, the android tried doing the same, and soon the two Dragonair were clashing tails like expert duelists, sometimes underwater and sometimes leaping above the surface in an attempt at a surprise attack, but always with the same dead-end conclusion.

"It might be able to match us with power, but never with skill. Come on, Dragonair; use some of the smarts I know you have!" Jesse encouraged desperately, and Dragonair renewed the attack, utilizing every trick in the book as he swept his tail left and right, seeking a gap in his opponent's guard. Ditto may have replicated his DNA, but not his memories, and soon the facsimile was on the receiving end, slashed, beaten and stabbed as Dragonair's masterful Aqua Tail outclassed his own meager skills.

It tried fighting back, but the android was unheeding, retreating as a barrage of Aqua Tails struck true.

"Dragon Pulse, on the double!" Jesse commanded quickly, and the stunned android was sucked up into a wild tornado, pounded by air and water as Dragonair deftly controlled the force of nature. "Now go for the combo!"

The android tried using it's Recover technique, but failed; it was encased inside the watery-blast, helpless and unable to move as the true Dragonair hurtled towards it. With a great crash, the Dragon Pulse shattered, but the android barely had a chance to recuperate before the Dragon Mist was surrounding it, pounding it with pressurized water, burning it with Dragon power and finally pushing it over the edge with muscle-melting Paralysis. Soon the android in its true amorphous form was floating glassy-eyed in the pool, completely unconscious after the pounding it received.

Sabrina sighed out in relief seeing as both her younger brother and his Pokémon were unharmed. Cerberus, being protective of his trainer strolled up to the fallen android, and sniffed it. After a short while, he spotted a small slip of paper next to it. Cerberus picked up the paper using his mouth, and then handed it to Sabrina, who quickly read over it.

"There's going to be a tournament this year…" she said, quietly.

"And…?" Jesse asked, hoping for more of an answer.

"And," Sabrina added with a determined look her face. "We're going to enter."

**Unova…Nimbasa City Plaza…**

The scene changes to the central plaza of Nimbasa City. Phoenix Aster, an up and coming champion was sitting at his usual seat at his favorite outdoor café after defeating the city's gym leader. Sitting next to him was his partner Liepard, and the headless remains of a Kecleon mech. His friend, Edward, was serving him the usual as the silver haired fellow read his own invitation.

"Salvatore Roze…" Aster said thoughtfully. "Just who are you…?"

"So, are you going enter it?" Edward asked.

"Like I have a choice," Aster said seriously. "The gyms are closing down for the occasion."

**Hoenn…Lilycove Beach…**

It was early in the morning, and the sun was just beginning to rise. The island of Lilycove was still blanketed in mist, and silence filled the air. On the beach of a small ocean inlet stood nineteen-year-old Rhodes Atticus, his Milotic, Tempest, by his side and the remains of a Bronzong mech.

Atticus, a tall boy with chocolate brown hair who was wearing his trademark headphones, was in an unusually reflective mood. He picked up a small rock from the ground and tossed it into the water, watching the ripples spread slowly outward.

"Remember, Tempest?" he asked his Pokémon, grinning. "This is where we did all of that training back when you were still a Feebas, before we took on all of those Sharpedo and our little friend here," he said peering at the smashed android.

"Yeah, it's amazing how far we've come since then, isn't it?" he sighed, trailing off.

Atticus pulled a crumpled map of Pokétopia from his pocket—he had already returned the invitation with all of the necessary statistics filled out-and gazed at it happily. He had had been thrilled to be invited to another tournament so soon, after all off the friends he'd made in Canalave City. The decision to go had been easy, even without the tantalizing mention of an opening banquet…

Abruptly recalling Tempest to her Pokѐball, Atticus settled his headphones more firmly around his ears and cranked up the first song of the day on his MP3 player: an inspiring melody of determination, adventure and infinite possibility. Already more energized, he tossed a Pokѐball into the air.

The red and white sphere exploded into a beautiful Altaria, which rose and flapped his wings dramatically, superimposed against the gorgeous sunrise.

"Let's go, Altaria! To Pokétopia!" shouted Atticus, jumping onto the Pokémon's back. Altaria let out a screech, flapped his puffy wings, kicking up a cloud of dust, and took to the sky. Lilycove Island fell away behind them as they soared into the morning air, the music swelling into an inspiring chorus.

**Kanto…Saffron City…**

In the heart of Saffron City, most of the large city was still recovering from last year's tournament. Unfortunately, the repairs didn't last long as a red and orange stream of energy destroyed everything within a mile. When the blast faded away, Princeton Chazz and his Serviper could be seen sitting on the remains of a Steelix mech. He was reading the same invitation the twins received before crushing it in his hands.

"Crowed as a king…" Chazz muttered. "All right, Salvatore. You got my attention."

**Unova…Desert Resort…**

The Maractus of the desert were enjoying their time at the watering hole with a new friend joining them. Jim 'Crocodile' Cook, however was relaxing against a curved palm tree as the remains of Emboar android dangled from the branches. After reading his invitation, he was scanning through his watches database.

"Weird," Jim muttered. "I can't find anything on this Salvatore guy any where in the database. This ought to be interesting."

**Johto…Mahogany Town…**

We know go to the forgotten city of Mahogany Town, one of many evil organizations's former hideout. The android had already been defeated, but the victor was lying on the ground from a surprise attack of an unknown shadow. The attacker was a young trainer with dark skin, and an Egyptian style hairdo.

"What are you doing?" The trainer asked.

"I need this invitation," Axel explained. "I need to test my team's skills."

"And so do I," The trainer groaned, swiping the paper back. "Get your own!"

"Is that so?" Axel grinned. He held out his hand, which contained a Pokéball, and released the creature from within. He took pleasure and the man's fear before commanding his Pokémon to attack. "Staraptor, show him just how powerful Whirlwind really is."

**Sinnoh…Hearthome City…**

"Get back here!"

Rhodes Alexis commanded through her helmet screen on her matching white and turquoise light cycle.

She, along with the other three other girls was chasing their latest target, who was currently attempting to escape them riding a stolen vehicle from a random bystander. Zipping through the streets of Slateport City proved to be easier as most citizens inhabited the higher levels of the city, although that wouldn't deter the fact that this criminal was rogue, as all of their targets were.

He glanced in the side view mirror, panicking as two discreet figures were catching up to his pace. He instinctively increased his speed trying to final a dimension gateway. They would usually pop up out of nowhere, so it was all about luck. But does he have any at the moment?

"Annie, can you hear me?" she said through her pale yellow one piece ear set.

Another hunter with blue eyes, tan skin, and shoulder length brown hair was perched on one of the high buildings with a black sniper in her hands, looking through the telescopic sight while listening to the blonde on her rose pink set that matched her boots. Her clothes resembled that of a nun's, except that they looked more extravagant and less conforming.

She adjusted the microphone to return her message, but still had trouble having a lock on the targets vehicle "Loud and crystal clear," she reported back with while smirking, "What's not clear is that I can't get the guy to sit like a Psyduck."

On the other end Alexis looked back to her left and motioned to another girl who has green eyes, tan skin, and long curly blond hair gliding over the streets in her white hover skates. "Amanda, cut him off so Annie can get a shot in!"

She nodded through the helmet that matched her blades and turned off into another street that split them off.

Mindy then went back to the vehicle no more than twenty meters away "Katrina, have you got a diversion ready?" She questioned to a different hunter.

A silver headed girl with yellow eyes and tan was leaning beside on of the many buildings with what resembled a round black pebble in her hand. However, at the centre was purple button, which she had pressed and threw onto the centre of the road on her right. "The holograms in place. It wouldn't take long for him to find it. Annie can you see it up there?" She said through her own amethyst colored ear set while sprinting off to the predicted location.

The armed girl smiled as she found the gateway projection. It was round and was as bright as the sun. Surrounding it were various symbols circling the portal. "Totally. Amanda where are you?"

The air skater could see the runaway vehicle through the many alleyways she passed "Cutting him off now," She sated on her white set. The green eyed hunter skidded to a dead end and cut through to the streets.

This caught the criminal off guard as he hastily turned the steering wheel to another direction. Once he did, Alexis had caught up and stopped in front of Amanda as her cycle slowly started to fade away its light. They nodded as if they communicated telepathically and started going again. Amanda went off ahead as the other put her transportation vehicle back into gear. Once it shone she immediately took off after them.

"There it is!" The rogue exclaimed seeing the portal in view. But once he tried diving into it he didn't go to another dimension, he just flew right passed it.

Annie grinned as her finger was gently placed by the snipers trigger. "Gotchya" Was all she commented to herself before shooting.

The bullet hit the right front wheel, causing to spin out of control and swerved right into nearby lake. The criminal, before the car hit the water, bolted out the door and rolled out onto the grass.

Out of the corner of his eyes he saw a glint coming from the sky. Once he got a clear view he dogged the sword wielded by the yellow eyed hunter.

He may have reacted well, but she wasn't going to let him escape from their grasp. Katrina swung again and again, but he managed to block it by using the silver cuff he wore on his right wrist "It is best if you turned yourself in," Her voice grew louder as their combat was getting in the way. Only this made the rogue laugh, but she managed to slice a lock of his hair, which made him hesitant to respond.

Once Katrina managed to make him off balance by the edge of the lake, she spin kicked him into the water along with the sunken vehicle that the owner is not going to want back.

Amanda then made it to the scene as she glided on the surface of the water towards the target. Katrina spotted her and put her sword back in the scabbard which was attached to a purple belt on her waist that held many gadgets.

"Here catch!" She yelled out while throwing a short chain towards her from one of the compartments.

Amanda caught it and dived for rogue that just got his head out of the water panting for air. She took him by the back of his collar and threw him on land, hitting his body against a tree.

He seemed dizzy and hazed as she slid to a stop on the grass, skated over and wrapped his hands around the trunk. Amanda used the chain Katrina had given her and held it by his hands. She pressed a button and activated it as two purple rings of light that circled around his wrists.

A loud roar was heard as Alexis had finally made her entrance through the trees, scaring some birds in the process. She took off her helmet and got off her cycle. As she did, the hunter lifted up her left wrist that had a communicative bracelet, "Chief, we got him, can you send in reinforcements to pick him up?" An image of a tall blond man was projected as a hologram. "Of course. Just leave him there and return to headquarters." She nodded and signed off.

Katrina and Amanda had walked over to her with a relieved expression of a job well done. They then heard the sigh emitting from their ear piece by their last team member. "That's no fair. You guys got all the fun this time," The three giggled as they started to get ready to get back to base.

"Sorry Annie. Next time you can get in on the field," Alexis said trying to cheer her up.

Annie squealed in excitement as she took out a pink squared sheet. She dropped it off the side of the building and jumped, only to land on her hover board. She placed the sniper on her back as the sting held it on place over her shoulder "Lets race!"

The trio on the other end gave looks to each other before Amanda zoomed off ahead. Annie shouted after her, "Hey that's not fair!" She complained while quickly straddling her seat and putting on her helmet, taking off behind her sister.

Katrina sighed at the annual race back to HQ they always did after a mission.

She took out a piece from her belt. It was similar to the holographic gadget she used. She activated it and placed it on the ground. It brought up a black hover bike with glowing purple light waves coursing through it.

The silver-headed girl head took out the matching helmet under the seat and revved it up to catch up with her partners.

By the time the four had reached headquarters, Amanda came in first, Alexis second, Annie third, and finally Katrina.

Annie pouted as she pressed on a button to make her board go back to its original form. She slipped the piece in her pocket and sighed, "Yet another third place trophy for me…"

"Come on you guys, Crowler is probably waiting for us," Katrina pointed out as they took the elevator to the top floor.

The door soon opened to a very white room with a tall ceiling that seemed to have electrical currents flowing in around it. By the end was a window that spread out on the entire wall. And there in front of them, was the desk of their chief.

Crowler swirled around in his seat and smiled towards them as he brought up some projections before her, "That's now… seventy three successful captures. The Order of Magdalene is glad to have you here as our main hunters," he stated proudly as she examined the hologram of the captive rogue on screen.

Order of Magdalene was what they were known as, capturing rogue criminals around the globe. The Order also has branches and other hunters in other regions, but the main branch is right in the church of Hearthome City.

The four in front of her turned to each other and gave happy looks to each other as they sat down on the long white sofas placed at the centre. Katrina and Alexis took one while Annie and Amanda took the other "Is that all of them?" Amanda asked.

Although Crowler would have wanted nothing more than to say yes, the results proved otherwise. "I'm afraid not…" He stared off before opening a new projection in between them. It went through every criminal they have caught in less than a few seconds, but a new face appeared "I know you have been trying hard to accumulate all of the People of Faith, but there are many still remaining."

The People of Faith were a clan of Pokémon fanatics who are against violence, yet they used it to their advantage whenever their speeches failed to attract new members, or trainers to liberate their Pokémon.

Crowler got out of his seat and leaned at the front of his desk with his arms crossed, "This is their leader…" He gave them a couple moments to examine the face before them. This rogue had long white hair and piercing sapphire eyes. His expression brought a chill into the room. "…he's your new target."

The four shot their heads away from the screen and to their chief with unbelievable eyes. Annie said what they were all thinking, "But he's the leader. Shouldn't we capture the lower criminals first?" Crowler stood straight and turned around to the screen projection on his desk. He began processing new data to show them on their hologram.

The quartet went back to the screen in front of them to see what she was showing. It came up with various victims the leader had assassinated, "We have decided that starting from the ground up has been working efficiently with your skills…" He praised, then went on to the intention he had in mind "… But, if we take down the head, it will stir up the group in confusion, letting their capture come much at ease"

They now understood the concept, which meant Crowler could go on. He brought up the map of the many regions, showing towns and cities with different races inhabiting them, "They have moved from their old hideout and into a castle. The reason is currently unknown to us."

The team nodded as the chief closed up on three separate worlds surrounding the north. "These are the ones that are most commonly dealt with crime and assaults. "I want you all to check them all out and gather some information about him, and only him." He specified that no other clan member would be acceptable.

Crowler then pulled out four mini chips from his pocket and passed one to each, "Here's the data we have on him. It's not much, but it's all you have to go on" The girls stood up and did a little joke they always did. "Yes chief!" They said in unison while doing a sailor salutes gesture before they walked towards the elevator.

The last thing they heard from her before the doors closed was, "I told you to stop doing that!" The four hunters giggled at him childish character, not that theirs wasn't. However they soon stopped and took out some sunglasses, each in their signature colors.

They then took the chip Crowler had given them and inserted it in the port at the side of the right temple.

They all put them over their eyes to analyze the information being shown to them through the glasses. By the side of the hinges was a rolling dial that moved around all the data. They were also able to touch it in thin air by just using their hands as the sunglasses were programmed to use physical interaction.

Katrina went first as she leaned on one of the walls, "Name, Roze Gemini…"

Annie continued after, "Originally, he's from Nacrene City of Unova, and has spent most of his life there until twenty years ago,"

Alexis took the next bit, "Crimes, has kidnapped and killed several Pokémon and people,"

Amanda then finished off the briefing, "Level of danger, high. Ninety eight percent deadly…"

"And, he's currently hosting a tournament located at Pokétopia," Katrina added.

The lift reopened on the twenty second floor. They exited and had compiled enough information to understand their target's current factors.

**Kanto…Viridian Forest…**

Taking a look into deep in the heart of Kanto's Viridian Forest, all was peaceful for a while until an Ambipom mech crashed into the ground. The mech was covered in massive dents and was shut down almost instantly. In the branches of the trees, the victor of the battle was reading his invitation. He was a young boy with brown hair and green eyes. He wore a blue and orange hooded shirt, with blue ¾ length trousers and sneakers.

"Nice! There's going to be tournament!" he said cheerfully to his partners, Pikachu and Psyduck. "I wonder sort of food they'll have…?"

**Unova…Village Bridge Canal…**

Across many seas and into the bustling community of Village Bridge, we take a look at the flowing rivers of the Italian metropolitan. Floating in one of the Village Rivers was the head of a destroyed Swanna android with body following behind. Sitting at the edge of the river was the victor of the battle and her Riolu. She was a young trainer with red hair, worn in a side ponytail, and sapphire eyes. Her apparel consisted of a pure white hat and shirt, with three black roses and long black sleeves. She also wore a black and white platted skirt, black leggings, black boots, and black and white fingerless gloves.

"A tournament," she smiled at her partner who's named was Riola. "I feel sorry for the sucker who goes up against us."

Riola pumped his small fists together showing that he was also ready to battle as well.

**Kanto…Cerulean Beach…**

Buried under a pile of sand was a Sharpedo mech that was soaked to its circuits. The one who defeated the android, a young girl no more than the age of seventeen with long black hair and piercing red eyes, was sitting in the sand while reading the invitation. She wore white gloves, green slacks, a white shirt, blue sandals, and a teardrop pendant around her neck. Though she had defeated the android, with the help of her Squirtle, the young trainer looked more nervous than ever.

"A tournament…with others," she said nervously. "I hope everything goes all right…"

**Sinnoh…Jubilife City…**

High atop one of the city towers, a Serviper android was pierced by one of the towers needle points. Sitting below the destroyed mech was its assailants. A young teen with brown curly hair, eyes of the same color, and pale skin. His apparel consisted of a blue t-shirt, knee-length jean shorts, a pair of white socks, and red and black shoes. Beside him was his partner Blaziken. After reading the invitation, both the boy and his Blaziken held an ambitious expression on their faces.

"So the winner will be crowned as King or Queen…" he grinned."That ought to be fun."

**Johto…Ecruteak City…**

A pile of rocks was formed together as a makeshift grave with the head of a Flygon android lying at the top. After reading his invitation, the victor of the battle was praying for the android's departed soul. He was a young man with slick black hair and eyes. He wore black fingerless gloves, a black sash around his waist, and a cloak of the same color with golden stripes. Beside him stood his partner, an enormous lizard known as Charizard, with black scales.

After finishing his prayer, the man looked back at the invitation.

"Consider last year's, this tournament could get out of hand as well." he whispered to himself more than Charizard. "I must prevent any sort of catastrophe that could come from this. I won't make the same mistake I made with my apprentice…"

**Unova…Roze Castle…**

Finally, we return the castle of People of Faith. Here, we find that Gemini, his subjects, and the Sages have all gathered into a rather large room.

Though he never voices the thought out loud, Gemini is extremely conscious of his subjects. Talented as he is, he hadn't failed to realize that he was still a single human being, and he was afraid of the absolute faith they put in him, to achieve their goal of freeing all Pokémon from humanity.

Today, though, Gemini didn't at all mind the fact that the entirety of The People of Faith—yes, that meant the Seven Sages as well were behind him on their knees, as his attention was entirely focused on the little black stone held in his palms, which was slowly rising into the air as it discharged waves of crackling energy that stung his hands.

Not that he minded.

He had wanted too long for this moment to feel any negative emotions.

"Observe!" Gemini heard Seth cry out from behind him. "The Dragon answers the call of the King!"

As if that cry was the cue, an incredible flash came from the Dark Stone as the small area where the sacred object was held was shattered by the ensuing lightning, revealing a much larger chamber behind. The stone was now emitting lightning in earnest, its pitch-black surface hidden under a white-hot light of electricity.

"Down, down!" The other Sages chorused as one, and Gemini could hear his subjects throw themselves onto the floor in awe and fear. Feeling appreciative enough to show his respect as well, he got down to one knee with his eyes still fixed upon the Dark Stone.

However, it was a stone no longer.

Although it was hard to see through such a thick veil of energy, an immense, dark shape had definitely appeared in the middle of the chaotic discharge. As soon as its silhouette became discernible to Gemini the lightning abruptly dissipated, leaving the amazed The People of Faith, the half-destroyed chamber, and of course, the Dragon himself.

"The Great Zekrom…" Gemini whispered, dropping his gaze to the floor. "This humble creature seeks your audience."

With little thunderbolts still crackling around his magnificent armor, the Deep Black Pokémon opened his jaws as if to roar out something. Gemini tensed himself to hear his voice like he had with every other Pokémon, and was surprised to hear a deep, growling voice directly speaking into his mind, as if through telepathy:

_**"You have called me back into this world, human. Why?"**_

A stifled gasp from one of the Sages—Sinclair, Gemini believed told the King that the Pokémon had indeed spoken directly to them, through psychic or whatever powers he possessed. But before he could ponder the fact further, the rumbling voice spoke again: _**"You, who stand in front of all others, it is you that have business with me. Is it not?"**_

Blinking in disclosure, Gemini looked up to see that Zekrom was indeed looking at him. For a moment he was dumbstruck by the sheer brilliance and nobility that the deity emitted, making his position as King look foolish and insignificant in comparison.

"You speak rightly, O Great one," Seth answered behind him quickly, apparently noticing his momentary awe.

This time, a small growl did escape Zekrom's maw, as if he was displeased to have his question replied by someone unintended. Then, in the same thundering voice he said, _**"Then I shall hear what you have to say."**_ Then, with finality in his tone, added:

_**"Alone."**_

This Gemini hadn't expected. Looking back slightly, he saw that most of his subjects seemed surprised or disgruntled at being ordered out. Sage Natalia looked as if she would actually complain, but apparently one look from Zekrom's crimson eyes made her think again. Only Seth remained unfazed.

"To hear is to obey," he replied smoothly again. Rising to his feet, he turned to his fellow Sages and spoke: "Depart, brothers and sisters. The King shall speak."

None of the other Sages ever disobeyed Seth or Salvatore.

Very quickly the other men and women of The People of Faith exited the large chamber, until after less than a minute only Gemini remained in front of the Deep Black Pokémon.

"Do we dishonor your presence here, Great One?" Gemini asked carefully, he was fully aware that this conversation would be nothing like what he used to have all his life.

_**"To put it harshly,"**_ Zekrom huffed, although he sounded rather amused by Gemini's self-degrading interpretation. _**"Experience had told me that you humans are selfish creatures, only decent when doing so would benefit their own greed."**_

Gemini tensed. This talk was going in a good direction.

_**"But you,"**_ continued the deity, suddenly lowering his head until his blood-red eyes were level with Gemini's blue ones. _**"The energy I see in you is nothing like I've ever felt in any human. Pure and untouched, yet with great sadness... almost like a Pokémon separated from his herd."**_

Gemini blinked. Salvatore used to tell him several times that he was more Pokémon than human, and the grief inside him was very well-known to him. How was he lonely? His herd was right here, in with his clan. Where else would he belong?

"You speak correctly of the selfishness of humans, Great One," he spoke up, pushing the disturbing thought aside. "I have seen the way they treat Pokémon as tools, using them as they please and abandoning them when unneeded. It is my belief that Pokémon and man-kind cannot coexist."

_**"Cannot coexist, you say,"**_ Zekrom rumbled, his eyes narrowing slightly as he rose his head back up. _**"How practical… And what do you plan to do about it?"**_

This was the moment.

"I plan to separate Pokémon from humanity," Gemini replied firmly. "I shall create a world where Pokémon can live in peace, and freedom from the greed of mankind."

Now it was Zekrom's turn to blink.

_**"Separate Pokémon from humanity…?"**_ he gasped.

"Yes."

_**"And this is why you have summoned me?"**_

"It is."

Long silence… Gemini felt a knot tighten in his stomach. He didn't expect the deity to see past the far-detachedness of his dream so easily, but now that the only thing left between himself and his goal was convincing Zekrom the fear of denial was suddenly much bigger. All the people and Pokémon that trusted in him...

_**"I take back what I said about you earlier, human,"**_ Zekrom's quieter-than-before mutter broke his train of thought. _**"Your purpose is anything but practical. Do you realize the absurdity of your proposal?"**_

"You have only to look into my heart to know that I do," said Gemini, lowering his head. "All my life I have seen too many Pokémon hurt under possession of men, grew up with Pokémon that learned to avoid human, listened to despairing wails of Pokémon abandoned by their owners. I will give my life to change that."

He didn't realize that he was crying until he felt his tears roll down his cheek. Salvatore had often encouraged this unusual habit, apparently believing that it was a great way to win over peoples' minds. What was better, his tears were always genuine.

_**"...Then**_**,"** Gemini didn't miss the change in Zekrom's tone. _**"It could be said that the freedom of Pokémon is your ideal, correct**_**?"**

"Yes," Gemini whispered, not bothering to wipe the tears away. Then in a sudden surge of impulse, he cried out as he threw himself at Zekrom's feet: "But I cannot do this alone, Great One. I must make all humans be able to listen to me. Will you not give me the strength to make them listen, Lord Zekrom? This I beg, for the sake of every pained Pokémon that I hear!"

For several seconds Gemini lay like that before the silent deity, though it felt as if it was taking him decades. A whirlwind of emotions raced around his mind as he waited for an answer: fear, hope, despair, relief, grief...

_**"Ah!"**_ Zekrom's roar snapped him out of his stupor. _**"Ah, you have conquered me!"**_

"Great One…?" Gemini asked, raising his head in surprise.

_**"I am touched, young human,"**_ the Deep Black Pokémon told him. _**"Touched by your heart's pureness, and moved by your unending love for those that are not your kind, and utterly conquered by your infinite loyalty to your dreams. You remind me greatly of a man that I once entrusted by destiny to."**_

Gemini blinked in amazement. The Sages had told him many times over the tale of Zekrom's master, who fought his older brother to remain faithful to his ideals. The idea that Zekrom was comparing him to the great man was flattering, in the least.

_**"What is your name, young human**_**?**_**"**_ Zekrom asked, his crimson eyes gleaming in satisfaction.

"Gemini—Gemini Roze," Gemini replied, still in shock.

_**"On your feet then, boy,"**_ the deity rumbled, reaching out with one clawed hand and scooping the awestruck Trainer to his feet. _**"You need not bow before me, for from this moment my power is yours to wield. I pledge my allegiance to you, Trainer, on one condition."**_

"What is that, Great One?" Gemini asked, daring to look up into those magnificent red orbs.

_**"Protect that ideal of yours,"**_ the Deep Black Pokémon growled with sudden fierceness, two crimson eyes boring into his with burning intensity. _**"Stick to them until the end, fulfill it! Prove to me that I made the right choice, then and now!"**_

As he bellowed out those words an incredible blast of lightning exploded out of his tail, blasting away the hollow chamber behind him to expose the morning sun rising over the horizon, casting a light so bright into the tower that Zekrom's armor looked even darker against the blinding glare.

Upon hearing Zekrom's words, the Sages knew that their work here was done. Seth turned back towards the winding staircase and led the others to the top of the castle. Once he reached the top floor of the castle, he stopped in front of pure black door. The door didn't contain a knob, but one wasn't needed. Unexpectedly, Seth as well as the other sages walked through the door and entered a dark room with a crackling fire place, rows of bookcases, and enormous over chair containing their leader, Salvatore.

"How is our plan moving so far?" he questioned.

"All is as expected." Seth said pleasingly. "As we had predicted: Lord Gemini has brought Zekrom to our side."

Salvatore smirked. "And what about our androids?" he asked.

"Every last one of them is permanently offline," Meredith said happily. "That means all the chosen trainers have passed their tests and the invitations have been sent. Within a week, this castle will be filled with super powerful warriors from around the world."

Salvatore couldn't help but smirk once more. "And once they arrive, our plans are set in motion."

**TBC…**

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**So, how was it? ****I really went into a different direction with this one. Aside from completely changing the plot, some of the characters and their Pokémon, I've also included Unova Pokémon within the story. For those I PM about their OCs, I'd appeciate it if you sent me this form completely filled out, since more battles will be breaking out in the upcoming chapters.**

**On a side note, this probably the longest thing I've ever written. According to Mircosoft, this was about 33 pages, and only for one chapter. Shocking isn't it?**

**I hope you all enjoyed, please review. :)**

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***Sign up Sheet***

***Please send this to me by PM only.***

**Name:** Your character has to have a name. What is it? Since the Pokémon world is similar to Japan, and shares its customs, last names come first. (Example: Yuki Jaden)

**Nickname:** Does your character have a nickname? Type it here.

**Age:** All trainers in this story must be at least the age of sixteen. Any younger, and your OC will not qualify.

**Hometown:** Your characters hometown may be from any within the five regions, so pick whichever one you want.

**Accomplishments:** Tell me the places that your character finished in other tournaments and make it realistic. Also, characters that are younger than seventeen who have competed in the Pokémon League will be ignored and considered overpowered.

**Appearance:** What color are the character's eyes, skin, and hair? How tall are they? And, what nationality are they?

**Clothing/Accessories:** Please give me a detailed description of what clothes your OC or OCs wears. Links are also helpful, but may not show up.

**Background:** Most characters have a background. What's yours?

**Personality:** How does your character act around others? Do they have rivals or love interests?

**Battle Style:** Tell me how your OC battles.

**Battle Cry:** Everyone has a battle cry that they are known for. Like Ash, who says "I choose you (Pokémon)!"

**(*Optional) Pokémon That Stays Out Of His or Her Ball:** If you want you select one Pokémon to stay out of its ball for most of the time, and if it does then it has to be for the most part a small. Massive Pokémon like Onix do not count.

**Favorite Attributes/Elements:** Just give me two or three elements that you think resemble your OCs.

**(*Optional) Love Interest (It doesn't matter if it's another OC or canon character. However, it's 'first come first serve' for those who choose canon characters):** Any character besides Jaden, Zane, and Syrus are free to who ever chooses first.

**Friends and Rivals:** Easy enough, right? Just be sure to separate the two so that I will know who's who.

**Pokémon:** What are your character's partners? If your character is participating within the tournament, then only three to four Pokémon are allowed.

**The restrictions are as followed:**

**1.)** _No_ legendary Pokémon of any kind. However, _one_ of the smaller legendaries such as Shaymin and Victini are allowed to each team.

**2.)** You may pick one or two pseudo legendary if you really need to.

**3.)** You can only have one starter Pokémon out of the fifteen that are available.

**4.)** You may pick any four to six Pokémon you want from the five generations, and no teams of all Magikarp or entire teams of shiny Pokémon/Eevee-evolutions.

**Name:** Give me the name of you Pokémon. Fill more than one of these out for each Pokémon. If the Pokémon has a nickname, then type it here, and put the original name and or meaning (if it has one) in parenthesis. **Example: **Senshi (Braviary)  
**Type:** Tell me the type/types that your Pokémon have.  
**Gender:** Male or female, once again pick one, not very difficult.  
**Ability:** You may choose _one _ability for each Pokémon—it maybe hidden or common, but not both.  
**History:** All Pokémon have backgrounds and personalities. Type it here.

**Moves:** Only four moves per Pokémon. If you can't choose, then list some moves here, and I'll pick from the list.

**Sides:** There are six different sides that you could submit your OCs for—this is very important.

**1.)** Being a part of the main characters group: (Open, but for a limited amount of time. There are only 2 spots available.) Basically means that your OC will be in most of the story weather it be battling in the tournament or watching other battle and helping to fight off the forces of evil which will take place throughout the story.

**2.)** Being a rival: (Currently Open) Like Paul is to Ash, your OC will be a rival to another character.

**3.)** Being a part of the side of evil: (Currently Open) Here, characters work for the bad guy. Your character may be an undercover trainer, or grunt members.

**4.)** Random Battler/Victory Tournament Participant: (Position is available to anyone, and is currently open) do you want your character to go up against one of the main characters? Then this is the position for you.

**5.)** Being a Colosseum Leader: (Open for a limited mount of time. There are 2 spots available.) Characters in this position get to act as a gym leader. Besides being the strongest trainer of their city, the "Leaders" also specialize in one particular type of Pokémon, or move.

**6.)** Being the Event Announcer: (Open, but for this is a 'first come first serve' position for the first 2 people) as the announcer, your character will appear at the events and well…announce!


	2. Chapter 2

**You guys have waited long enough for this chapter. ****I wrote the rest of this chapter, proof-read it along with a new story (Yokai Institution) and a bunch of other new chapters today, so my brain is kind of exhausted now…I hope you guys like it.**

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_**Where Legends Cross**_

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_**Chapter Two:**__ In which our heroes take their first steps into their journey. _

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"_A hero is born among a hundred, a wise man is found among a thousand, but an accomplished one might not be found even among a hundred thousand men."__- Plato_

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"Here you guys go! Happy birthday!" Syrus grinned handing the gift bags he held to the twins. Before the twins could reach for their gifts, he snatched them back, leaving them very confused until he switched the bags, his face flushing red. "Sorry! Those are the wrong gifts…"

Jaden and Janelle reached slowly for them this time, not sure if he was going to switch them again. Seeing that he was not going to, they took their gifts and thanked him warmly. Janelle reached in her bag and pulled out a card. Syrus had drawn her in cartoon form running in her track uniform. Syrus was not a particularly talented artist, but his cards were always so full of love and heart that neither of the twins cared about the art. However, Janelle did have a particular comment about the art this time around...

"Um, Syrus, my boobs are not this big…" she pointed the abnormally-sized bosoms of her cartoon counterpart.

Syrus looked at her drawing before blushing furiously. "I'm so sorry! I can…I'll redraw it!"

He made a move to take the card, but Janelle jerked her hand back, waving him off. "No, it's fine!" She tried to reassure him, giving the blue haired boy a small smile. Syrus retracted her hand, not entirely convinced, and Janelle opened her card to read the message. Her smile grew larger and larger as she read, and by the end of it, she had attacked Syrus in a hug.

"Aww Syrus, you're too sweet to me! Thank you! I love this card so much!" she grinned. "I'm going to add it to my card wall, along with the other cards you've made me each year!"

Syrus blushed, returning the hug. "You're welcome! But really, it's just a silly card." he pulled away, pointing at the counter. "Oh, and I also bought this."

Janelle dug through the ridiculous amount of tissue paper that was used to line the box and pulled out a soft Rotom plushy. She smiled and hugged the stuffed toy to her chest, delighted by its cuteness. "This is so cute!" she said, clutching it tightly, and heard a squeaking noise come from it as she squeezed.

Syrus smiled equally delighted, and said, "Great! I knew how much you loved ghost types, so when I saw a mountain of these little guys at a local shop, I just knew I had to get one for you."

Meanwhile, Jaden had read Syrus' heartwarming card and had reached into the bag to pull out a Scrafty plush. Syrus saw that he had seen his gift and chuckled. "I wasn't sure what to get you, and I bought this…is it alright?" he asked, his eyes hopeful.

Jaden was not overly thrilled about owning a Scrafty plush, but it did not make a huge difference to him. He squeezed it. Yes, it squeaked. "Uh, thanks, Sy. Truly." he offered his small smile to him and Syrus breathed a sigh of relieved.

"Great! I was afraid you guys wouldn't like my gifts. That's a load off my shoulders." he laughed nervously, flicking nonexistent sweat off his forehead.

Jaden smirked, patting Syrus' back. "Oh come on, Sy! You honestly think we don't love your gifts? You're like, the most considerate person we know! Of course we love them!"

Janelle nodded, squeaking her plush. "That's right," she simply added.

At this moment, a cough caught their attention, and the trio turned around to see their other friend standing on the porch, hands in the pockets of his silver blazer, looking bored.

"Sorry I'm late. I had to make a short stop before I got here," the newcomer explained, walking into the house. He brushed his silver hair out of his face.

Syrus, happy from his recent relief, greeted him, "Oh, Aster! Glad you're here! I just gave Jaden and Janelle their gifts, so it's your turn now!"

Aster sighed, slipping off his shoes before stepping into the house with a smile. He reached into his blazer's inner pocket and pulled out two small, neatly wrapped packages. Janelle's gift was wrapped in lavender paper with a female Frillish pattern while Jaden's was in a simple blue wrapping paper with a Wingull pattern. Syrus smiled a bit at the wrapping paper Aster had chosen for Janelle's gift.

_Pretty fitting,_ he thought, amused.

Aster handed the gifts to the twins, who took them without worry that they received the wrong package. In fact, they were probably the same item.

And the same item they were. However, Jaden was confused about the gift. "Why did you get us digital maps?" he asked, clicking through the portable map. It was really nifty, he needed it. "It's not like we will be traveling that much?" he smirked, but was happy nonetheless. "But thanks! This is actually really cool. Like, I didn't know they made such advanced digital maps like this!" he continued to click through the device, reading the information about each city that came with it, not noticing that Aster's shoulders slightly slacked with relief at his approval.

Janelle, however, was also wondering the purpose of this gift. Aster never gave anything, even birthday gifts, without good reason or purpose, so why a map? She looked at him with a smile, offering her thanks. "Thanks a lot. This will come in handy someday, I'm sure."

Remembering an important detail, Jaden suddenly remarked to her two friends, "Oh yeah! Mom said that she had something planned at 10:00, and she wanted both of you to come to our house later as well!"

Syrus cocked his head to the side, surprised by this bit of news. Aster did not seem surprised, or perhaps he was just looking bored as usual, but Janelle had a feeling that he knew something no one else did. Aster's deep sea blue eyes met Janelle's aqua ones, and the two seemed to share a mental understanding of some secret.

Syrus' voice interrupted their stare, "But, we have some time to burn, right? So why don't we do something until then?" he suggested, and Jaden jumped excitedly, grasping his shoulders.

"Oh can we play with your Xbox 360? Pleeeeeease?" he begged. The twins owned a PS3, but only Syrus had an Xbox 360 and the latest Tekken game. Aster however, was not much of a gamer, and he sighed at Jaden's proposition. He was in for a long hour...

He sighed again when Syrus grinned and headed for the stairs. "Of course!"

Sounds of the two running up the stairs could be heard, followed by a loud thud, with Jaden's worried voice asking if Syrus was alright. After a moaned word of reassurance, the thumps up the stairs continued.

Aster chuckled and went towards the stairs. "Shall we?" he asked Janelle. The female twin nodded and smiled.

"Sure. At least until this 'surprise' at 10:00 is revealed." The two shared a knowing smile as they walked up the stairs, where Syrus and Jaden were happily starting up the video game console.

After nine consecutive wins, Jaden yelled out in victory, netting yet another win. Syrus pouted next to him, always coming so close to beating him, only to lose to the jaws of defeat at the last moment. Janelle was third, although it mattered little to her. Aster had given up any kind of hope of playing efficiently long ago. He decided that he would stick to App games and other electronics instead.

Janelle glanced at her watch and poked Jaden's head. "Hey, it's already 10:18."

Jaden's head snapped to gape at her in shock and he jumped to his feet, the game controller dropping from his hands. "What? Why did no one say anything? And for Arceus's sake!" he pointed at the DVD player under the TV, "There's a clock right there! Oh jeez, come on, we gotta hurry home! I want to see what Mom planned!"

Syrus, who was desperately checking the condition of his dropped controller, found himself yanked to his feet as Jaden dragged him towards the door. "Wait, Jaden! Let me turn off the game!" he whined as the male twin pulled him from his room. Aster watched as everyone left. Before joining them, he picked up the controllers and put them over near the game console. He turned off the device and turned to leave when Syrus yelled, another loud thud resonating through the house. The silver headed fellow chuckled to himself. It was never a boring day around his friends.

After Syrus composed himself, the quartet headed back over to the twins' house. Jaden would have ran there if not for the fact that Janelle had kept him restrained, fearing that poor Syrus would trip and fall if he were to try and keep up with him. The group finally reached the house, and Jaden burst through the door, yelling, "We're back!"

He kicked off his shoes, sending them flying, one almost hitting Syrus, and ran into the living room, finding it empty. The television was on the news channel, which was broadcasting live from the newest Pokémon hospital that was built. Jaden turned around and ran back into the foyer before running into the kitchen. He found his mother, Amana, preparing some coffee and the woman smiled when she saw her eager son.

"Welcome back, did you have a good time?" she asked, keeping him in suspense.

Jaden, having none of that, smirked. "Are you ready to tell us this huge secret you had planned?"

His mother giggled and nodded, saying, "Of course. You're late you know. The surprise is in your room."

With that, Jaden was gone, yelling as he ran away. "Thanks!" The group had just taken off their shoes and were headed to the kitchen when he zoomed right past them again, thankfully not knocking into anyone. He was already halfway up the stairs when the trio realized what had happened.

"Jaden, where are you going?" Syrus whined in exasperation and was answered with a curt, "MY ROOM!" from Jaden.

The three teenagers gave a collective sigh and started to climb the stairs. By the time Janelle and Aster had reached the top, Syrus had just started, and to no one's surprise, had already tripped on the first step. It was a miracle that he had survived eighteen years of his life with a room on the second story of his house.

"Go on ahead you two, I'll be there in a moment!" he called out weakly, and the others pursed their lips before walking to the bedroom.

They stopped at the door, seeing Jaden kneeling on the ground in the middle of the room, inspecting something. Janelle poked her head over his shoulder to see what he was looking at and saw a bright blue box, tied off with an elaborate green ribbon, sitting on the floor of their bedroom. Aster chuckled to himself. So the hints dropped by his father, a Pokémon researcher, were true.

Jaden turned his head to look at his sister, his auburn eyes shining. "What do you think it is? There's only one box!" His voice was dripping with curiosity.

Janelle reached for the box, standing back up with it in her hands. "Only one way to find out, huh?" she smiled at him.

Aster put his hand on her shoulders, smirking. "Shouldn't we wait for Mr. Two-Left-Feet first?"

"Hey!" came Syrus' insulted voice as he appeared at the doorway, cheeks puffed out in mock anger.

Aster chuckled, holding his hands up in defense. "Sorry, sorry."

Syrus walked over to the group, his eyes catching on the pretty blue box in Janelle's hands. "Oh, is that your present? Go on! Open it up and let's see what's inside!" he said.

Janelle nodded, taking off the ribbon and letting it fall to the floor. Four pairs of eyes barely blinked as the box was opened. Inside, a piece of velvet covered the box, hiding something underneath. A small piece of blue and white stationary was placed on top.

Aster stated the obvious. "There's a note. Perhaps you should read it first."

Jaden was already reaching for the paper as he said those words and he opened his mouth to read the neat cursive handwriting on the letter.

_Dear Jaden and Janelle,_

_First off, I would like to wish you two a happy birthday._

_I had made a promise to your father that on your next birthday, I would give you a special-bred Pokémon, but your mother has also requested that your friends, Aster and Syrus, receive Pokémon as well. I've brought four Pokémon, one for the two of you, as well as your two friends. There would be three Pokémon, but luckily enough, it just so happened that my Scrafty bred a Scraggy just in time. The other three balls contain a baby Aron, Girafarig, and a Snorunt. Please settle your choices politely, and I hope you will treat your new Pokémon well!_

_Enjoy your Pokémon!_

_- Mutou Yugi _

As he read, the expressions of all four friends, even that of Aster's, turned into ones of excitement, and Jaden practically zoomed through the last words, picking up speed as he read. When he finished, he gushed, "Holy Miltank, then that must mean…!"

He reached for the velvet covering and pulled it off, revealing the four shining pokéballs in the box. Red and silver semicircles met to form a lustrous, spherical capsule. They were organized in a square, each with a small design engraved on the center of the buttons: a tongue of ice, psychic, darkness, and steel.

Aster smirked, seeing his assumption had been correct, but made no mention that he had known about this all along. His excited face had gone back to his calm smile while Jaden was completely ecstatic, mouth ajar in a silly grin. Syrus' eyes were wide and shining and all four trainers were staring at the pokéballs, silence falling over the room.

Aster coughed to break the silence, smiling. "I say we let the birthday boy and girl pick first, since these were meant for them in the first place."

Syrus nodded furiously in agreement. "Go ahead guys, take your pick."

Much to their surprise, Jaden did not immediately reach for the pokéballs, but rather, seemed to be deliberating for once. His auburn eyes met his sister's aqua blue eyes. Their faces broke into identical smiles and they nodded, reaching for the pokéballs they had chosen. When their hands pulled away, the bottom two pokéballs, the one with the ice and darkness engravings, were gone.

Before Aster got another word in, however, another hand snatched one of the pokéballs away and his eyes followed it back to his short friend, who was now clutching the ball with the steel engraving in his hands, "I call this one!"

Aster let out an exasperated sigh, taking the remaining pokéball with a shake of his head. "Honestly Syrus, you should have worked out an agreement with me before taking your pick. But," He smiled down at his newly obtained pokéball. "It doesn't matter."

Syrus stuck his tongue out cutely, chuckling nervously. "Right! Sorry about that. But at least we all got the ones we want right?" His eyes shot to each of his friends, a joyous grin illuminating his child-like face.

The trio nodded, each clutching their pokéballs, delight evident on their faces. Jaden snapped his fingers saying, "Oh, oh, I know! How about we have a Pokémon battle right now? It'll be just like old times back in grade school."

Aster raised his eyebrows, asking, "Are you serious? Honestly, weak as they are, isn't that dangerous?"

Jaden waved off his worries, remarking, "Oh come on! They're just hatch-lings! It's not like they can do anything too bad, right?" He turned to Syrus, eyes glittering mischievously, "Sy, how about you test your Aron against my Scraggy?"

Syrus smiled. "Okay. I'm sure everything will be fine!" With that, the twins went to opposite sides of the room, leaving Aster sighing again. Guess he had no choice…

As Janelle and Aster took a seat on one of the beds, Syrus held out his pokéball, trying to strike a dramatic pose. "Trainer Jaden, I challenge you to a battle!" he said in a low voice, putting on his "serious" face.

Jaden laughed, pulling a pose of his own. "I accept your challenge, Trainer Syrus!" he returned, using a low voice as well. Aster rolled his eyes as Janelle chuckled. Those two were so silly.

Jaden threw the pokéball into the air and a loud pop sounded as a glittering golden light released the creature within, materializing into a bipedal lizard-like Pokémon. The little Pokémon hopped in place, his little yellow arms waving around happily at his release.

Jaden caught the falling pokéball and immediately kneeled on the ground, gathering the little Pokémon to look at him. "Huh. He's pretty cute!" He laughed, squeezing the distressed creature. Scraggy had just been released and was eager to move around, but this…human…was cruelly restricting his movements.

Scraggy opened his mouth to whine in protest, "Scrag, Scraggy!" only to have Jaden to hold him higher.

Aster's amused voice brought him out of his trance, "Hey Jaden. Your Scraggy is looking a little blue there."

Jaden immediately released the uncomfortable Pokémon and Scraggy let out a sigh of relief before looking warily at the boy in front of him. Jaden smirked at Aster's comment, turning his attention back to Scraggy.

He poked his stomach, smiling. "Heh…look at that!"

Scraggy was becoming even more distressed now, trying to run away, whining loudly.

In the whole time that Jaden was gushing over his new Pokémon, Syrus had tried to release his as well, only to drop his pokéball and watch it roll under Jaden's bed. He dived to his heads and knees to retrieve it, crashing headfirst into, luckily, the bed's mattress. He put her head to the ground and looked for the pokéball, finding it a distance from the opening. He snaked his arm under the bed, reaching for the capsule, finding that he could not reach it. Huffing, he tried to stretch his arm further, feeling his fingers brush against the pokéball. Realizing he could not grab it, he gave one mighty poke and managed to get the pokéball rolling out the other side of the bed.

He got clumsily to his feet and went to pick it up. Standing back up, he dusted herself off before grinning, seeing Jaden pinching Scraggy's cheeks. Syrus went back to his place and yelled triumphantly. "Come on out, Aron!"

Just as Scraggy did, Aron materialized out of a golden light, and gave a cry of surprise. "Ron?" He turned around in a circle to get a good look at his surroundings. It was around feeding time, but where was the nice man with multi-colored hair…?

Jaden had stopped in mid-pinch to look at the Pokémon that Syrus had just released. It was a rather small creature with a round body, four stubby legs, and a large, round head.

Aron turned around to see a boy dressed up in a yellow sweater, gazing at him with a friendly expression. He had not noticed that the pokéball had come to return to him, but because he did not catch it, the capsule hit his head instead. Rubbing his head, he bent down to pick up the fallen ball.

"Uh, Jaden…Syrus…didn't you guys say you were having a battle?" Aster asked in a patient voice, having dealt with such scenarios a myriad of times in the past.

Both Syrus and Jaden snapped out of their dazed joy and looked at each other. "Oh yeah…" Jaden mumbled, letting go of his very relieved Scraggy, who immediately ran away from him. His parents had told him about how someday he would be raised by a "human" known as a "trainer," which was why he was here. Scraggy stood a few feet in front of the boy, looking apprehensively at who was apparently his new "trainer". Oh boy…

Syrus bowed his head, uttering another apology, before trying to put a serious expression back on. He reached up to straighten his glasses, smiling. "Alright birthday boy, I'll give you the first move!"

Jaden stared blankly at the Pokémon in front of him, not sure what to do. Janelle chuckled, seeing that her twin had no clue what to say to his Pokémon.

Aster rolled his eyes and offered, "As a baby, Scraggy will know basic attacks and defenses like Leer and Low Kick," and as an added measure, he turned to Syrus and said, "Same goes for Aron. It would know Tackle and Harden."

The two boys gave him relieved stares, before turning back to their opponent. Jaden adjusted his coat sleeve as well, giving a determined smile. "Right! Scraggy, give that Aron a Low Kick!"

Scraggy perked up at the command, but he was not sure about whether or not to listen to this boy who he had perceived as crazy.

Seeing that Scraggy ignored Jaden's command, Syrus chuckled. "Doesn't look like he's listening…my turn!" He pointed forward, saying, "Aron, Tackle!"

The steel-plated Pokémon obliged, charging at Scraggy, smoke snorting from his nostrils. Scraggy panicked, not moving away as his opponent charged at him. Urgently, Jaden yelled out, "Dodge it!"

Not needing more encouragement, the dual-type creature moved just in time to evade the incoming attack. However, Aron was now unable to stop himself, tumbling straight at Jaden's legs. He was able to dodge with his quick reflexes, but because he did, the Aron kept going… and crashed right into the waste bucket. The can fell over with a loud crash, spilling its contents all over the ground. The Aron shook himself off, slightly irritated by the miss. Aster grimaced, knowing this was not going to end well.

In the meantime, Scraggy was ready to fight, unbalanced trainer or not. Jaden quickly yelled out, "Scraggy, Leer!"

Turning his attention to Aron, Scraggy glared to lower Aron's guard. However, the small creature Pokémon took offense and charged at Scraggy again. Syrus yelled out, "Huh?! Aron, I didn't say to Tackle again!"

Scraggy dodged again and this time, Aron went crashing into the potted plant in the corner, knocking it over and dashing soil all over the ground. Neither Jaden nor Syrus took notice, now enraptured in their battle. "Scraggy, time to attack! Low Kick Aron!"

Syrus countered with, "Aron, hurry and use Harden!"

The steel-plated Pokémon stiffened his muscles. Scraggy went barreling for him and Aron ran away, panicking. When Scraggy went in for the Low Kick, Aron turned to his left and leap up onto a bookshelf. This caused Scraggy to crash into the side of the flat-screen television, forcing it to shift forward and nearly toppling over.

Angered, Scraggy chased Aron up to the bookshelf and the two Pokémon began to wrestle each other. The combined weight of the two made the bookshelf wobble before it gave way to gravity, collapsing onto the ground with a thunderous smash. Still, neither Syrus nor Jaden seemed to notice, completely transfixed on their Pokémon.

"Keep it up, Scraggy!"

"Uh, Aron, you do the same!"

The two Pokémon ran rampant around the room, trying to tackle the other. Whenever the attacks did not connect, the Pokémon went flying into some object in the room, whether it was a desk, computer, or book.

Aster's mouth was gaping in shock while Janelle's eyebrows were so high that they slipped under her hat. Aster started to say something to control the situation, but was forced to dodge when Scraggy nearly kicked him. Janelle jumped from her bed, worried that Aron may go crashing into her any moment.

By now, the two battling Pokémon seemed to be wearing down, but their Trainers were still full of fire. "Scraggy, finish this off with one more Low Kick!"

"Don't let him, Aron! Finish this with your tackle!"

The Pokémon stared each other down before charging straight at each other, colliding in the center of the room. The room went silent as the two Pokémon fell to the ground, unmoving and out of breath..

A long silence dragged out. When neither Pokémon showed any signs of recovering, Aster coughed. "Both sides are unable to battle; therefore this match is a draw."

Another awkward silence followed before Syrus said, "Wow…! That was some battle! My Aron was all over the place…" He chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head.

Jaden responded with a laugh, admitting, "Not really…I was just randomly saying stuff…"

Another cough caught their attention and they turned to see Janelle giving them aggravated looks. "If you two could take a moment to take a look around you…" She sighed, gesturing all around her.

Syrus and Jaden looked around, their expressions contorting into shock. All around, books were strewn on the floor, many pieces of furniture were knocked over, and the poor plant in the corner was slumped on the floor.

Jaden stared at his rummaged bed as Syrus whistled and said in a timid voice, "Wow..." He weakly gestured to the room as well. "Look how strong these little guys are! I could never do THIS much damage to anything!" He laughed a little.

Jaden gave him an exasperated gape, sputtering, "Easy enough for you to say! This is MY room!" He groaned, clutching at his face. "What is Mom going to say?!"

Syrus held his head down in shame. "Sorry, guys! Its ok, it's ok! I'm sure your mom won't be mad! I mean, she probably knew giving us Pokémon would have this kind of outcome, so I'm sure she won't be too upset!" He tried to reassure his distressed friend.

Aster crossed his arms. "You…are completely hopeless Syrus…" he murmured.

"Come on, let's have a battle. I'm sure they won't make the room any messier, especially if Aster is battling!" Syrus said optimistically, choosing to ignore Aster's insult.

Aster raised his eyebrows and Janelle let out a small scoff, knowing how much his ego probably went up from that one little statement. The silver-haired trainer placed his hand to his chin, smiling. "Yes, I do believe I can. It will be no problem for someone like me."

The twins rolled their eyes as he continued, "And besides, it's unfair if only Syrus and Jaden get to have their fun. Come on Janelle, let's show them how battling is really done." He smiled at the female twin who nodded, walking over to where her brother stood.

Aster did not immediately go to his place, but instead, headed to the fainted Pokémon on the ground, who were both starting to regain consciousness. "I have some potions to heal them with," he said, reaching into his blazer to pull out two spray bottles. He lifted one of them to Syrus' Aron and sprayed the contents on his head.

Aron shook his head, snorting more smoke out of his nostrils before jumping back on his feet, happily exclaiming, "Aron, Ron!"

Smiling, Aster put the empty potion bottle away and lifted the other to spray on Scraggy, but Jaden grabbed his hand to stop him. Smiling, he said, "Here, I'll heal him."

Aster blinked, and handed him the potion. "Sure thing."

Jaden took the bottle in his hand while scooping up his disoriented Scraggy in his other arm. He sat down on his bed and held the spray bottle up to Scraggy's leg, squeezing the trigger to spray the medicine. Scraggy winced at the feel of the cool spray but opened his eyes fully. He looked up at his trainer and Jaden gave him a soft smile, chuckling, "Feeling better? Thank you for that battle, you were awesome!" He placed Scraggy gently on his lap, careful that he would not get hurt anymore. "By the way, my name's Jaden. It's nice to meet you, Scraggy!" he laughed.

Scraggy blinked in surprise. He had expected the crazy human to suffocate him or pinch his cheeks again, but instead, Jaden had healed him and gently let it sit in his lap. Perhaps his first impression of him was wrong. Still, he was suspicious of the male twin.

Syrus picked up his Aron, who stared at him confused. "I'm sorry Aron! I didn't mean to make you battle so hard." He frowned. "You worked real hard. Let's take a rest and watch the others battle okay?" After hearing Jaden's introduction, he quickly added, "Oh yes, my name is Syrus!"

Aron blinked in response, not quite sure what was happening. Syrus sat down next to Jaden, setting Aron next to him. Scraggy glanced warily at the Aron before looking away. It was not ready to make peace with the steel Pokémon and Aron felt the same about Scraggy. Neither Pokémon said a word to each other as they watched Aster and Janelle prepare for their battle.

Janelle casually stood at the end that her twin had been at, holding her Poke ball to her chest. Aster was standing with his hands in his blazer pockets again, smiling, "Janelle, you can release your Pokémon first."

The female twin nodded, throwing the pokéball into the air, and a small, black Pokémon with an egg-shaped body, round fingerless hands and toe-less feet known as Snorunt appeared. This Snorunt seemed surprised by her new surroundings but had noticed the human behind her and came to the understanding that she had a new trainer. She turned her attention back in front when she heard the crack of another pokéball opening. Girafarig, the final Pokémon, was summoned from her capsule.

Girafarig appeared as a hoofed, quadruped Pokémon with several unusual features. Her front halves are yellow with black spots while her back halve was black with yellow spots. In the front, her has a long neck used for browsing with pink spikes running down the back. Her tail end possesses a head of its own. Girafarig stomped her hoofs and chuckled at the Snorunt in front of her.

Jaden smirked. That Pokémon was probably more arrogant in attitude than Aster was. A small chuckled escaped his lips, but no one seemed to notice. Everyone was focused on the battle that was about to begin.

Aster pointed at Janelle and declared, "You can have the first move!"

Said trainer nodded, saying calmly, "Snorunt, Leer!"

Like Scraggy, Snorunt glared at Girafarig attempting to lower her defense.

Girafarig scoffed, waiting for an order. Aster noticed his Pokémon's readiness and said, "Girafarig, Growl."

Girafarig smiled and gave Snorunt a withering snarl and the small ice type winced.

Janelle called out, "Don't worry about it, Snorunt, and go ahead and use Powdered Snow!"

Snorunt steadied herself and dashed at Girafarig, readying for an attack. Aster immediately responded with his own command.

Before Girafarig could move, however, Snorunt's Powdered Snow hit her head on, and the dual-type gasped as she fell back from the force, but immediately got back to her feet, tackling Snorunt. Now it was Snorunt's turn to go flying. However, before she had a chance to recover, Aster called, "Girafarig, Growl again!"

As Girafarig gave another derogatory snarl, Janelle shouted encouragement to her Pokémon, "You're doing great Snorunt! Tackle again!"

Snorunt recovered and charged at Girafarig again, ready to strike with ice-based attack. Girafarig was not as fast to recover this time, and Janelle took advantage of this to call out another command.

"Don't give them the chance! Dodge and Tackle!" Aster ordered. Girafarig tried to dodge, but was not quick enough to escape the crushing blow from Snorunt. She stumbled back before falling over, fainted.

Aster growled and walked over to his Pokémon to heal her. When she awoke, he petted her and smiled. "Thanks Girafarig. You were amazing. My name is Aster. You and I will make a great team."

Girafarig frowned a bit, slightly doubting that statement. After all, she believed it was because of her new trainer's incompetence that she had lost. Nonetheless, Girafarig nodded to acknowledge his statement.

Across the room, Janelle bent down to address her partner with a small smile. "Thanks Snorunt. You were fantastic. I'm Janelle, nice to meet you."

Snorunt returned her trainer's smiled, jumping up and down happily. "Runt, runt, Snorunt!" she greeted.

Now that the battle was over, nothing could distract Jaden from the mess. "What is mom going to say about this?" He moaned again, falling back onto the bed, giving a frustrated groan. His Scraggy stared at him confused. Maybe he was crazy after all, with the strange sound he just made.

Janelle took a seat beside him with Snorunt in her lap. "Guess we just have to explain it to her." She sighed, looking around the room.

Jaden shot back up, startling his Scraggy, and exclaimed, "Well I'm not telling her! You know I'm not good at telling her bad news!" He whined before his eyes wandered to Aster. Placing Scraggy on the bed next to him, he jumped up and over to him.

"Aster, can't you explain this to my mom, please? You're so good at getting on people's good sides, and I'm sure if you tell her, she won't be mad at all!" Jaden pleaded with him, giving him his infamous pout.

Aster flinched. He of all people had the hardest time denying a request from Jaden when he used his pout. With yet another frustrated sigh, he slowly nodded, much to Jaden's glee. "Fine fine, but Syrus, you're helping me. This was all your idea, after all." He walked over to the stairs, starting down.

Syrus timidly stood up, walking over to the stairs. "Fine…" he sighed before turning to face the twins. With an apologetic smile, he bowed his head nervously. "Um…sorry about your room again! I'll fix things, don't worry," he said before heading down the stairs. For once, there was no loud thump to signal that Syrus had fallen. Perhaps holding Aron made him more careful…

Jaden walked over to the TV, staring at it before noticing what was under it. Janelle stared around the room, slightly dismayed that many of her graphic novels were scattered on the floor, pages bent, and some even ripped.

"Hey, sis?" Jaden called out.

"Yeah?"

"At least the PS3 survived…"

_o_

_o_

_o_

The twins warily left their room and walked down to the living room. At the foot of the stairs, they saw their mother, face unreadable, listening to Aster speak.

"So Mrs. Yuki...we're sorry about the mess we made. We did not mean to cause trouble," Aster said smoothly.

Syrus sheepishly offered, "We can help clean up if you want..."

The twins' mother, whose face finally brightened into a smile, waved off his words with a kind smile. "Oh no, it's quite alright. I'll just cleanup no problem. I could hear your Pokémon clear down here! That must have been quite the battle you guys were having. But look at your Pokémon! They're so cute." She laughed. "I don't think the letter mentioned it, but you were supposed to meet with Yugi after you received your Pokémon." She looked at her watch, amused. "He should be expecting you right now. Hurry along!"

The twins silently thanked Arceus that their mother was not upset and actually had a reaction quite the opposite of what they expected. They both hugged her at the same time. Snorunt had climbed onto Janelle's shoulder, but Scraggy unfortunately was smashed within the embrace.

Jaden laughed, "Thanks, Mom!"

Janelle smiled. "And to Dad too…"

At this point Aster remembered the note. "Oh that's right. Syrus and I wanted thank you for the recommendation as well." He smiled.

Syrus piped up, "Oh yes, thank you so, so much! I love my little Aron so much!" A silly grin lit up his face as he petted the top of Aron's head.

The twins' mother walked over to Aster, ruffling his hair. As the teenager reached up to fix his raven hair, she chimed, "Honestly, you don't have to be so formal! And Syrus, you are most welcome! You four have been friends for so long, it only seemed fair…and Yugi was more than happy to oblige. After all…oh, speaking of!" She started pushing her kids towards the door. "You four have an appointment with him! Be sure to thank Yugi for the Pokémon!" She grinned. "Now hurry!"

The Pokémon Ranch was rather close to the twin's house. Within a 15 minute walk, the four of them were standing in front of the Pokémon lab. Jaden pressed the doorbell to announce their arrival, and the loudspeaker next to the door beeped. An elderly man's voice came from the intercom, asking, "Who is it?"

Janelle pressed the button under the intercom, which allowed her to speak back. "It's Janelle and Jaden. Our friends are with us. We came to thank Yugi for the Pokémon." She let go of the button.

The static returned, and the voice spoke again, "Oh, of course! Come on in!"

The intercom shut off again and a buzz sounded as the door to the laboratory opened. Jaden entered first, followed by his sister and two friends. They entered a room surrounded by steel walls, decorated with paintings of different Pokémon in their natural environments. A flight of stairs was across from the entrance the group had just come through and two electronic sliding doors were on the other walls. Since they had not heard directions to go up the stairs or through the doors, the group meandered through the small room, looking at the pieces of art.

Janelle was particularly enraptured by a picture of a ghost type Pokémon that resembled a Cyclops. It was surrounded by darkness, but the creature gave off a bright blue glow that illuminated a sphere of light around itself. While she thought it was interesting, she had never seen or heard of something quite like it.

Wow…I have to capture that Pokémon... she thought to herself. Of course, she had to leave town first, since she was sure that nothing like that lived near Nuvema Town. Around here, only Patrat and Lilipup scurried about, with the occasional flock of Pidove flying overhead.

Jaden felt a wave of nostalgia as he gazed at a painting of a Reshiram flying through the sky during a sunset. As a child, he always dreamed of riding on its back. While that fantasy still secretly held true deep within him, Jaden realized that his chances of meeting the legendary creature were pretty slim. But of course, that didn't stop him from dreaming.

Aster was not too interested since he had seen these paintings every time he visited his father at the ranch. Syrus, however, flitted from painting to painting, gazing in awe at all the different Pokémon that existed. At this moment, steps could be heard coming down the stairs, and all eyes turned to see who the newcomer was—an elderly man with gray hair and a gray beard to match. He wore a pair of olive green overalls, sneakers, and a yellow bandana.

His eyes twinkled as she addressed the group, "Hello everybody! I see you are enjoying the art gallery. I actually got these from Castelia as a gift for Yugi." He chuckled, catching himself. "Oh I'm sorry; I've gone off on a tangent again. Excuse me! Allow me to introduce myself!" He smiled at the four friends. "My name is Solomon. I'm Yugi's grandfather. I'm watching the ranch while he's away at a meeting at the Pokémon League." He gave a small bow of his head.

"Nice to see you again, Solomon." Aster smiled. The group had all met him at some point, so he was no stranger to them.

Solomon chuckled. "It's nice to see all of you again. I assume your day has gone well so far?" His eyes landed on the Pokémon in each of the trainer's arms.

Jaden suddenly burst out, "Thanks for the Pokémon!"

Solomon turned his attention to the two twins, a smile on her face.

"Well Jaden, Janelle, happy birthday! If I'm not mistaken, your Scraggy is male." He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "In fact, it's funny. Janelle, you chose the female Snorunt. Quite an intriguing coincidence," He chuckled, patting the heads of the Pokémon in their arms. "What's more, Syrus, your Aron is male, and Aster, your Girafarig is female."

Scraggy and Snorunt were glad to see a familiar face. Girafarig seemed like she could not care less while Aron was squirming in Syrus' arms, no doubt looking for food. He had missed mealtime and was rather hungry now.

Solomon raised his eyebrows, walking around to inspect each Pokémon. In amazement, he asked, "Did you four already battle with them?"

A collective, unintelligible murmur went through the group, each trainer not sure if they should or should not have.

However, Solomon smiled and held up his hands, "No no, that's not a bad thing. In fact, the Pokémon seem to be getting used to you already! The fact that they allow you to carry them so easily is proof enough. Although…" he stopped in front of Jaden's Scraggy. "Your Scraggy seems to be a little uncomfortable. I do hope nothing is wrong." He frowned.

Jaden mirrored his frown, holding Scraggy to face him. "What's wrong?"

Scraggy was confused. Nothing was wrong, per say. He just had lingering uneasiness about having this boy as his trainer. Not quite sure how to answer, he shrugged.

Solomon burst into laughter. "Or perhaps he is simply getting used to you." He caught the squirming Aron in his peripheral vision, and shook his head. "Goodness, someone needs to put some food into that Aron's belly. Why don't you all come upstairs and I can give your Pokémon some lunch while we chat?" He gestured to the stairs with small grin.

At the mention of lunch, Scraggy and Snorunt started to fidget too. Girafarig secretly desired food as well, but there was no way she was going to show such a silly weakness. She just nodded curtly to the suggestion.

The four trainers followed Solomon up the stairs to the main part of the ranch. It was far larger than the waiting room and was filled with electronic equipment. Giant monitor screens covered one side of the wall, with information about some Pokémon scrolling down one of them. There was a low table in the center of the room where four food bowls, filled to the brim with Pokémon food, were placed. The Scraggy, Snorunt, and Aron jumped out of their trainers' arms, dashing over to their food. Girafarig waited patiently for Aster to place her down on the ground, rather displeased that her trainer had not brought her over to the bowl itself, before strutting slowly to the food bowls.

The four trainers watched their Pokémon enjoy their meal before Solomon caught their attention again. "Before I continue, I wanted to let you know that you can nickname your Pokémon if you wish. Some trainers claim that t it creates a better relationship between them and their partners."

Jaden stared intently at his Pokémon before smiling triumphantly, declaring with a snap of his fingers, "I think I'll call you, Sips!"

Sips, as he was now named, directed a dubious stare, laced with annoyance, at the male twin. What will the females think of him as a Scrafty named "Sips"?

Next to him, Snorunt snickered. Yes, exactly that reaction.

While Janelle deliberated a name for Snorunt, Syrus said, "I think I'll call you Sentinel,"

Sentinel blinked and realized he had a new name, but actually rather liked it. He smiled in approval, "Aron, Aron!"

Aster was silent for a moment before coming up with a name for his newly acquired partner. He stuck his hands in his pockets and addressed his Girafarig. "Your name will be Adele. I think it suits you quite well." Girafarig blinked, mauling the name over. Not too prissy and it sounded solid and strong. She gave a smirk. She approved. Aster returned a half smile, nodding curtly.

Janelle was the last one left without a nickname. Her Snorunt looked up at her, waiting patiently.

She looked at the tiny ice-type and said, "I suppose I like the name Natsu. How about it?"

Snorunt thought about it for a second, and then nodded happily. Janelle could not help but return the smile and give Natsu a pat on the head.

Solomon smiled to himself, remembering how Yugi would spend hours coming up with perfect nickname for his Pokémon. Knowing he had much to explain, Solomon clapped his hands to get the everyone's attentions again. "Splendid choice of names! A trainer and Pokémon can become closer from something as simple as a nickname," he chuckled. "In any case, Yugi didn't intend of giving out these Pokémon asking for something in return."

Confusion settled over the heads of the trainers, wondering what they had to do for the champion of the Unova region Pay money? Clean up after and feed the Pokémon here at ranch?

"It's simple really," Solomon continued, turning around and walking over to a steel table. On it were four devices, each a different color: green, pink, red, and blue. He picked up the green one and held it up, asking, "Do any of you know what this is?"

Syrus, finally understanding, smiled knowingly. "That is a Pokédex."

Solomon smiled, but after spotting Jaden's confused face, he said, "For everyone's sake, I shall explain from the beginning. There are over 100 known species of Pokémon living in this region, but combined with those of Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh, I'd say there are well over 600 species in this world." The trainers seemed surprised by this piece of information.

Smiling, Solomon continued. "This device, as Syrus said, is called a Pokédex. It is designed to record down any Pokémon you encounter in the wild! There is a scanner that picks up the DNA signature of nearby Pokémon and logs their personal information into the Pokédex. You see, I do have a database of every Pokémon that is known to exist in the region of Unova, but unfortunately, with his duties at the Pokémon League, Yugi doesn't have detailed information on them, nor does he have time to go out into the field to study all them." Solomon rubbed his neck, smiling sheepishly.

"What I'd like you all to do is to go out, travel and meet every Pokémon there is to meet, and record their data onto this Pokédex. I want to have a full database with all the information of every Pokémon out there. It was your mom's idea to invite your friends along." He addressed the twins. "She thought it was an experience everyone should have." He nodded to the respective teens as he spoke. "They agreed to let you go on this journey."

Solomon continued smiling, asking a final question, "Can you guys do that for me?"

The room fell silent, hearts pounding from fear, anticipation, excitement, and suspense. Syrus broke the silence first.

"Traveling? Meeting new Pokemon? Going to different cities?" he babbled, wide-eyed. He'd grown accustom to being at home and being with his partners.

"I'll do it. I'll be battling tons of trainers, so the Pokédex should fill up pretty quickly." Aster smiled, hands in his blazer pockets.

Janelle shrugged, smiling, "If Jaden goes, I'll go."

Jaden gave her an incredulous look, smirking, "You're kidding right? And miss out on an adventure of the lifetime?" He turned to Solomon, arms crossed. "We'll do it!"

Solomon smiled, beaming. "Splendid!" He turned his attention to Syrus, "And what of your answer?"

Syrus bit his lip, still deliberating. Jaden pouted and turned to him. "Come on Sy! You've always talked about going out of Nuvema Town, and seeing the world! Trying new things! Finding your place in life!" he grinned, placing a hand on Syrus' shoulder. "This is your chance! It's practically smacking you in the face! Take it!"

Syrus' uncertainty faded as Jaden spoke, and his frown turned into a small grin. "Hmm...alright," He turned back to Solomon, "I guess I'll join. It'll be fun trying to see every Pokemon for you and Yugi."

Solomon laughed, his eyes twinkling. "You four have given me the greatest answer you possibly could have," He picked up four Pokédexes and walked back over to the waiting trainers. He gave the blue one to Syrus, red to Jaden, lavender to Janelle, and platinum to Aster.

When he finished distributing them, he chimed, "There you are! Thank you all so very much! Please go home and pack your belongings. I think it will be a good idea to leave tomorrow. Pack enough for a day's trip. The next town over isn't very far. I've provided a list of essentials for all of you." he handed the each trainer a list before finishing up. "Good luck!"

Words of approval and agreement rang from each of their mouths, to which the Solomon responded to with another smile. "In that case, it was a pleasure seeing you today and I must thank you all for agreeing to this request."

"We should be the ones thanking you!" Jaden beamed.

"Yeah, I mean, yes, Sir! Thank you so much!" Syrus added.

Solomon waved them off, chuckling, "It is no problem at all. And it appears as if your Pokémon are done eating," he gestured to the starters. "You can return them to their pokéballs when you travel, as to not tire them out. Just hold up the pokéball and ask them to return and they will."

Aster held up his pokéball to return Adele and Janelle did the same with Natsu. Syrus said goodbye to Sentinel before recalling him and Jaden gave Sips a huge grin before calling him back. With the Pokémon returned to their capsules, the four trainers left the lab.

_o_

_o_

_o_

The twins rose up early the next day, but skipped their routine morning jog. Instead, they ran to Syrus' house and sneaked around to the back to where his window was.

At 8:45, the teens were done with all preparations and were ready to go. Jaden and Janelle turned to their mother, their expressions a mix of sadness and excitement.

"Going on your journey...I'll miss you two." Their mother smiled sadly.

Jaden and Janelle immediately hugged their mom, simultaneously saying, "We will miss you too... "

Their mother felt tears spring to her eyes and pulled away. "You two go out and do your best! You'll make me proud, no matter what! Remember, just have fun! And Janelle." She turned to her son in a teasing manner. "Keep your brother out of trouble."

Jaden huffed, "I don't need no babysitter! I'm older than her!"

"Yeah, by two minutes," Janelle giggled.

Their mother laughed before noticing the time. "You better get going!"

The family exchanged looks before Jaden broke into a wide grin. "Bye Mom! We'll come back to visit really soon!"

Janelle smiled, "Take care of yourself, Mom. And tell Dad goodbye for us well."

They turned to leave, heading down the dirt path towards Route 1.

"Stay safe! Keep in touch! Take care of each other! I love you!" Their mother called out with a grin.

"We love you too!" The twins shouted, waving. She sadly watched her children run away. To her right, she saw a flock of Pidove fly away into the sky.

She smiled to herself and walked back into the house. Time to clean up the room...

When the twins arrived at the town's exit, Aster was already there, and they waved good morning. Aster returned the greeting, genuinely surprised to see Syrus with them.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's get going!" Jaden cheered, starting to step forward.

"Um, could you wait a minute?" Syrus said and yanked Jaden back.

"What?" The male twin moaned.

"I was thinking..." he turned to his friends, a smile shining as bright as the sun. "Since this is the first time we've traveled together, I think we should all take our first step into Route 1 together."

Everyone smiled and nodded at the suggestion.

"Oh, well I guess that makes sense. Good idea, Sy!" Jaden grinned.

"Right!" Syrus hooked his arms around Jaden and Janelle's arms, excitement radiating. "Aster, you grab Jaden's arm!" he smiled mischievously.

Aster shot him a glare but complied, awkwardly taking Jaden's arm in his.

"Okay, on the count of 3, we all step in with our right foot!" Syrus said.

"Why the right?" Aster asked.

Jaden shrugged. "I don't know, why not?"

"No, just wondering...I mean the left works just as fine..." Aster defended.

Janelle chuckled.

"Come on guys!" Jaden whined, before smiling again.

"1..."

Everyone snapped to attention.

"2..."

Everyone lifted their foot.

"3!"

And with that, the four trainers set their right foot down on unknown soil, taking the first step of their journey, ready to face whatever awaited them in the outside world, together.

* * *

**It feels great to be working on my stories again. Of course I was thinking about them during my hiatus, but I didn't have the time to work on them. Seeing the trailers of Gen 6 really got my hyped up to start writing again. I would have included everyone's OCs, but I felt that this chapter (much like the previous chapter) would have been overwhelming. So, OCs will officially start appear in the next chapter since the gang will be in PokeTopia and some battles will break out. I apologize for that, but hopefully this chapter turned out well.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading everyone, and as usual, feedback would appreciated! ~ Rain**


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